Social Anxiety
What is social anxiety disorder?
We all know the feeling of being nervous or uncomfortable in a social situation. Maybe you’ve clammed up when meeting someone new or gotten sweaty palms before making a big presentation. Public speaking or walking into a roomful of strangers isn’t exactly thrilling for everybody, but most people can get through it.
If you have social anxiety disorder, though, the stress of these situations is too much to handle. You might avoid all social contact because things that other people consider “normal” -- like making small talk and eye contact -- make you so uncomfortable. All aspects of your life, not just the social, could start to fall apart.
Social anxiety disorder (also known as social phobia) is one of the most common disorders, so if you have it, there’s hope. The tough part is being able to ask for help.
Virtual Reality Therapy for Social Anxiety
Our social anxiety environments allow to work on social interactions, cognitive restructuring and social skills training. As an added benefit, this environment is also a useful evaluation tool to test your social skills and for social engagement.
VR Environments that help
Chatting at the bar
This environment finds the indiviual themselves sitting at a bar table, having an informal conversation with their companions. Each of these companions engages with a specific communication style – passive, assertive, aggressive, and mixed. The individual is tasked with listening to the conversation and interacting with their companions.
VR Therapy involves gradually introducing the person to social environments and helping them to face it and adapt making necessary changes. It may involve just a few sessions of therapy, after which the end goal is to build confidence in social settings.