Reducing Stigma Toward People with Serious Mental Illness Through a Virtual Reality Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

ABSTRACT: Background: Stigma toward people with serious mental illnesses (SMI), like schizophrenia, is a serious global public health challenge that limits the quality of life of those affected and poses a major barrier that keeps people from seeking professional help. There is an urgent need for novel, effective, and scalable interventions to decrease stigmatized perceptions of chronic psychotic disorders and to reduce the health burden imposed by them. Method: We conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of a new immersive virtual reality game (Inclúyete-VR) on the level of stigma toward people with SMI, measured by the Attribution questionnaire (AQ-27). Participants in the experimental group were exposed in an immersive way to hallucinations c

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez-Rivas ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11693960 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature