Virtual-reality-assisted treatment of flight phobia.
BACKGROUND
Flight phobia is a common and debilitating specific phobia. Recently, an effective technology, called Virtual Reality (VR), has been developed for the treatment of various anxiety disorders including flight phobia.


METHODS
This article reports the results of a pilot study consisting of four subjects treated for Flight Phobia using Virtual Reality.


RESULTS
All four subjects flew post-treatment. They experienced a significant reduction in fear of flying on two measures--anxiety about flying and global rating of fear of flying.


CONCLUSIONS
due to the small sample size, the lack of a control group, and the lack of objective measures, caution must be exercised in interpreting the results.


CONCLUSIONS
The use of Virtual Reality psychotherapy is relatively new worldwide, as well as in Israel. This study suggests the utility of implementing this technology in Israel.
Wallach
Helene S
HS
Tsfat College, Tsfat, Israel. helenwa@Yahoo.com
Bar-Zvi
Margalit
M
D000328:Adult; D000401:Aircraft; D003887:Desensitization, Psychologic / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012064:Relaxation Therapy; D014195:Travel; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014584:User-Computer Interface