Reprinted from: Xinhua News Agency | 2017-2-24

Xinhua News Agency Hangzhou, February 24th New Media special broadcast (reporter Zhu Han) VR technology with the greatest feature of true “immersion” is extending to the field of psychotherapy. Based on virtual reality (VR) technology, the Zhejiang Provincial Drug Rehabilitation Administration and a number of experts jointly developed the country's first virtual reality drug addiction assessment and correction system (hereinafter referred to as: VR drug rehabilitation system) that can be used to treat meth abuse and addiction. This system will be gradually promoted in Zhejiang from March.

VR detoxification treatment, how does it feel?

On the 21st, the reporter saw in the compulsory isolation drug rehabilitation center in Liangzhu, Zhejiang Province, that in a warmly furnished treatment room, drug rehabilitation personnel were experimenting with the VR drug rehabilitation system. The device consists of a pair of VR glasses, a pair of headphones, a set of heart rate testers, and a host.

It is understood that meth addicts have withdrawal symptoms of mental and behavioral problems after they stop meth, making it difficult to get rid of drugs. VR detoxification mainly targets the psychological dependence of drug addicts on meth, “the right medicine”.

Xiao Chen, who has a history of meth addiction for 7 years, has received VR detoxification treatment for the second time. After wearing the equipment and heart rate tester, the drug addiction assessment and correction course of treatment started.

Xia Xia, a psychological counselor in a drug rehabilitation center, introduced that the drug addiction assessment system and the correction course of treatment have built-in short films shot in real-life scenes. The content of one treatment includes reshaping the scene to assess drug addiction, aversion therapy, and regression therapy. A set of three short films.

“The first part of the short film is familiar to drug rehabilitation personnel, and their memories of drugs are aroused by the environment and dialogue with fixed meanings; the second part has multiple short films, one for each treatment, showing the serious consequences of drug use, such as complications, side effects, etc.; The last part is daily life and family life.Beautiful scene. "He Dalun, the developer of the virtual reality drug addiction assessment and correction system and the technical director of Hangzhou Saiwengsi Technology Co., Ltd., introduced.

The reporter observed that while watching the short film, Xiao Chen's heart rate accelerated significantly many times. “It feels very real to wear glasses. Seeing that many terrible complications are caused by drug abuse, thinking back to the scenes of drug abuse, I am a little disgusted. ”After the treatment, Xiao Chen said that the aversion treatment video had a greater impact on him, which made him a little scared.

Is it effective to detoxify with the help of VR technology?

Insiders in the industry said that at present, research on VR technology detoxification has been carried out at home and abroad. For example, in a new study by the University of Houston in the United States, researchers simulated the construction of a “happy gathering” scene to train drug rehabilitation personnel how to better resist temptation in real life. There are also attempts to use VR equipment for anti-drug propaganda in Guangdong, Sichuan and other places in my country.

“Experts believe that in the stage of rehabilitation and consolidation after about one year of detoxification, it is more appropriate to use the VR detoxification system for correction. "Xia Xia said.

“For synthetic drugs like meth, there has been no effective withdrawal treatment method before. "Yao Yongqing, deputy Director of Zhejiang Provincial Drug Rehabilitation Administration, introduced. In January this year, this VR drug rehabilitation system passed expert demonstrations from the Mental Health Center of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou Health and Family Planning Commission, Anhui Medical University and many other institutions in Hangzhou.

“The best thing about a person is memory, and the worst is memory. "Dr. Wang Yongguang, an expert from the Scientific Drug Rehabilitation Committee of Zhejiang Provincial Drug Rehabilitation Administration, said that this technology uses a progressive approach to play VR videos to transform drug addicts' dependence on drugs into disgust and fear of drugs. During the entire treatment process, there were no other side effects, except for a slight feeling of dizziness when individual personnel watched VR videos.

“From the perspective of psychotherapy, hearing is more likely to stimulate empathy than vision. Therefore, in the production of the short film, many ambient sounds and dialogues that have a fixed meaning for drug users are emphasized to enhance the effect of treatment and correction. "Wang Yongguang said.

The clinical trial data of the system show that more than 60 drug addicts have reduced their craving for drugs by 75% after 6 virtual reality system treatments in 15 days; at the same time, only 3% of the control group who did not use VR treatment reduced their craving for drugs..

A database will be built to achieve precise treatment

Relevant data from the National Drug Control Commission and the State Drug Control Office show that in recent years, the number of people abusing synthetic drugs in China has increased sharply, with an average annual growth of 36%. In 2015, 80% of newly discovered drug abusers were people who abused synthetic drugs.

Insiders in the industry believe that judging from the instrument response data of this VR detoxification system, the system has a certain effect in correcting “heart addiction”, but it still needs a longer time to verify.

Yao Yongqing said that drug rehabilitation needs to go through four periods of physiological detoxification, educational adaptation, rehabilitation consolidation, and return guidance. The VR drug rehabilitation system is part of the scientific drug rehabilitation. Relevant institutions in Zhejiang Province will rely on the data collected by the system to establish a large database of drug addiction correction and treatment at the level of thousands of people, and research and development for subsequent upgrades.And provide the basis for treatment.

“As the system is more widely used, the science, accuracy and effectiveness of the VR detoxification system will be continuously improved. Through the continuous collection and accumulation of big data, the goal of precise detoxification and treatment will be achieved. "Wang Yongguang said.