Virtual Reality in the Treatment of Eating Disorders and Obesity: State of the Art and Future Challenges

Virtual Reality (VR) is an advanced human-computer interface that allows the user to interact with and become immersed in a computer-generated environment in a naturalistic fashion. Different clinical data suggest that VR can help in addressing two key features of eating disorders and obesity not always adequately addressed by existing approaches: body experience disturbances and self-efficacy. In fact, performance-based methods are the most effective in producing therapeutic change across behavioral, cognitive, and affective modalities. The experiential approach allowed by VR helps patients in discovering that difficulties can be defeated, so improving their cognitive and behavioral skills for coping with stressful situations. On the downside, the cost of this technology remains relatively high, its availability is still limited and some patients (1-2%) may experience simulation sickness. The paper discusses the pros and cons of this approach presenting the results coming from the last controlled clinical trials.