Avatar therapy 'reduces power of schizophrenia voices'

[Disir]

Confronting an avatar on a computer screen helped patients hearing voices to cope better with hallucinations, a UK trial has found.

Patients who received this therapy became less distressed and heard voices less often compared with those who had counselling instead.

Experts said the therapy could add an important new approach to treating schizophrenia hallucinations.

The trial, on 150 people, is published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal.

Avatar therapy 'weakens hallucinations'

I am guessing from the wording in The Lancet that these folks were also taking meds.

 

[ChrisL]

Confronting an avatar on a computer screen helped patients hearing voices to cope better with hallucinations, a UK trial has found.

Patients who received this therapy became less distressed and heard voices less often compared with those who had counselling instead.

Experts said the therapy could add an important new approach to treating schizophrenia hallucinations.

The trial, on 150 people, is published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal.

Avatar therapy 'weakens hallucinations'

I am guessing from the wording in The Lancet that these folks were also taking meds.

That explains why we have so many of them come here. They are here to yell at everyone's avatars!

Sorry, I know this is supposed to be serious, but I couldn't resist.

Yeah, when a person hears voices, I don't know how successful "therapy" or talking about it with a psychiatrist would be in a treatment sense. Therapy sessions may help the psychiatrists to understand more about this disease, but it doesn't really help the patient very much. IMO, it is very important that schizophrenic patients remain on their medications no matter what therapy they are receiving. So far, as far as I know, there has been no treatment more effective than medicating for this particular mental illness.