vertheyearsI’vetakenpartin
somecrazyself-experiments,
rangingfrominfectingmyself
witha tapewormtoprolonged
sleepdeprivation.Butthe worst
wasa filmI madeonfear,during
thecourseofwhichI agreedtogo
caving.I ammildlyclaustrophobic,
sowhenI gotstuckdeepunderground
I almostscreamedthecavedown.
Thisdelightedthedirector,butit was
themostfrightenedI haveeverbeen.
SoI wassympatheticwhenoneof
myco-presentersonTrustMe,I’mA
Doctor, psychiatristDrAlainGregoire,
admittedtohavinga fearofheights.
Thisphobiaaffectsaround 20 per
centofpeopleintheUK.
Thetraditionalwayoftreating
phobiasis byexposingyourselfto the
thingyoufearin a controlledway.SoI
wassurprisedwhenI heardAlainwas
goingto tryandcrackit usingvirtual
reality(VR).ButI laterdiscovered
thereis solidevidencethatVRcan
beeffective.Ina trialcarriedoutby
researchersfromOxfordUniversity
andpublishedinTheLancetin2018,
100 peoplewitha fearof heightswere
randomlyallocatedtoreceiveeither
notreatment,orsixsessionsofVR
interventionovertwoweeks.
Thoseinthesecondgroupwore
a VRheadsetthatallowedthemto
explorea virtualenvironmentwhere
theycouldcarryouttaskslikelooking
overtheledgeof a 10-storeybuilding,
orwalkingontoa platformto rescue
a cat in a tree. While they were doingtheseactivities,a virtualtherapist
talkedtothemabouttheirfears.
Thevolunteershadto fillin surveys
thatscoredtheirfearof heightsbefore
andafterthetreatment,andthenagain
atfourweeks.“Everyonewhohad
theVRtreatmentbenefitedtosome
extent,”saidProfDanielFreeman,
who led the t rial. “The average
reductioninfearofheightswas 68
percent.Sodownbytwo-thirds,
whichis a largeclinicaleffect.”
Butwouldit workforAlain?With
trepidationhedonnedtheheadsetand
entered a 3D virtual world. “It feltM I C H A E L
MOSLEY
Michaelis a writer
andbroadcaster,
whopresentsTrust
Me,I’mA Doctor.
Thenewseries is
out now.Couldvirtualreality
treatmenthelpcure people
of their phobias?FACE YOUR
FEARS
COMMENT
incrediblyreal,”helaterexplained.
“AlthoughI knewthatI wasstanding
ina grey,carpetedroomwitha flat
floor,I wassoonsweating,anxious
andfrightened.Mylegsbeganshaking
andI developedpainsinmychestas
theyaskedmedoa seriesoftasksat
evergreater‘heights’.”
Buthefoundhecouldlivewith
thefearandhissymptomsimproved.
Whenhewaslaterchallengedwith
a realsituationwherehehadto look
overa bigdrop,hewassurprisedto
findthathecoulddoit. “Throughout
mycareerI’vebelievedit takesa long
timeto makesignificantpsychological
changes.Yetthisbriefintervention
definitelyworkedforme.”
VRtherapyis nowofferedonthe
NHSinsomepartsof Englandandis
alsobeingtrialledforotherconditions
likeobsessivecompulsivedisorder
(OCD).Whentheycomeupwitha VR
worldthatcantreatclaustrophobia,
I might just give it a go.“AlthoughI knew
I wasstandingina
grey,carpetedroom,
I wassoonsweating
and frightened”
PORTRAIT: KATE COPELAND ILLUSTRATION: OVADIA BENISHUO