Authors: Cosmin Octavian Popa1, Adrian Vasile Rus2, Wesley Clay Lee2, Cristiana Cojocaru1,3, Nicoleta Suciu4, Alina Schenk1,3, Cristian Gabos Grecu5
Affiliation
1 Department of Ethics and Social-Sciences, “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology, Tîrgu-Mureș, Romania
2 Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Southwestern Christian University, Bethany, Oklahoma, USA.
3 The Doctoral School of Medicine and Pharmacy, “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology, Tîrgu-Mureș, Romania
4 Department of European Projects, “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology, Tîrgu-Mureș, Romania
5 Department of Psychiatry, “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology, Tîrgu-Mureș, Romania
Abstract
Over the last decade, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has developed a rapid evolution in the improvement of different strategies and methods for treating emotional disorders. Virtual Reality (VR) is one of those methods, and recent studies in this field show that CBT augmentation with Virtual Reality can represent an efficient psychological intervention for treating specific anxiety disorders. Even though this type of psychological treatment is just at its beginning, the main idea that emerges from this is to investigate further the effects of the augmentation between CBT and VR in this kind of psychological disorders. Also, if the possibility of applying the standard protocols vs. new protocols in the treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is taken into consideration, we could determine which is associated with the best outcomes for a particular sample. Therefore, in this article, our quest will be to answer this difficult question, considering the studies published in the lasts years, and to elaborate a conclusion based on this body of research.
Key words: CBT, Virtual Reality, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, psychological treatmens, CBT protocols.
