Virtual reality used to fight phobias
Darren Piercey wants Fredericton residents to confront their fears.
The UNB psychology professor has teamed up with researchers from across the country to stop phobias from controlling people's lives.
"It could be spiders, heights, enclosed spaces - those things that stop you in your tracks and leave you gripped with fear and anxiety," Piercey said.
"Think about what scares you most and know it doesn't have to be that way."
Piercey's research focuses on helping people overcome phobias using virtual reality.
Goggles equipped with the technology to display three-dimensional imagery are used to safely expose people to scenarios that relate to the source of their fears.
Piercey said he'll ask volunteers from Fredericton and the surrounding area to wear the goggles and enter a virtual environment where they can see what scares them most.
"We'll have a giant, cube-like environment where the walls, ceiling and floor are actually projection screens," he said. "We'll create scenarios and virtual worlds for people to experience and use that to expose them to whatever they are afraid of."
The theory, according to Piercey, is people experience less anxiety after prolonged exposure to fear stimuli.
The scared feeling may always be there, he said, but it doesn't have to be all-consuming.
"Take spiders for example. I can walk into a room and be startled by a spider, but it doesn't mean I have a phobia," he said.
"If you see a spider and you can't physically make yourself go around it to leave the room - that's a phobia. Your rational side goes out the window and all you are left with is irrational thoughts."
Piercey said the objective is to help people feel safe with whatever scares them and talk to them until their rational side takes over and a more realistic view of the fear stimuli surfaces.
It's a form of cognitive behavioural therapy, he said, and it can be applied to people with phobias, anxiety issues or post-traumatic stress disorder.
"The biggest obstacle for psychologists is not being able to use this approach because it's not exactly practical to have everything people are afraid of in your office," he said. "With the virtual world at your fingertips though, the possibilities are endless."
Piercey was recently awarded $15,000 in the form of a Harrison McCain Young Scholars Award to help pay for his research.
He also received $98,000 from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and $20,000 from an innovation research assistant fund to hire graduate students.
"It's very exciting to get this support and be able to move forward," Piercey said. "My hope is we'll be able to cure people faster, decreasing the number of sessions they need with a psychologist and in turn, save health-care dollars."
Piercey and his team plan to work with the technology for about a year before publishing any data and expanding the project.
He hopes to begin collecting data this summer.
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