Behavioral Complaints
How to apply Corpus VR with regard to behavioural complaints?
Relaxation and desensitisation
Stress causes pain and anxiety, hindering the body’s recovery. Corpus VR uses various relaxation techniques to help patients relax and dissociate from their environment, from pain and anxiety. Creating a relaxed mindset can help reduce tension symptoms and move functionally, both mentally and physically. These techniques can be used for somatic, pain, burnout, trauma and stress-related complaints.
Chronic pain
Attention and pain are linked. Attention to pain only increases that pain. (J .Blom Pain & Attention, 2017).
The same goes for anxiety. As the old saying so aptly puts it: “A man often suffers most by the suffering that is feared.” (Revius 1586-1658).
Virtual Reality (VR) can be used positively as an active pain-relief tool in acute and chronic pain conditions. Applying VR produces a reduction in pain scores of at least 24% after only 15 minutes, as the distracting virtual motion worlds limit the mind from processing pain. This is supported by awareness strategies (CBT) to teach patients what is normal behaviour and when normal behaviour turns into obstructive behaviour. VR can also be used to improve functional (Cervical) ROM and reduce movement anxiety and pain in neck pain. Specific Corpus VR worlds for this include guided meditation, mindfulness training and breathing exercises.
An overview of behavioral complaints
Corpus VR can be used with any of the following behavioral complaints:
- Chronic pain
- Kinesiophobia
- Stress & Anxiety
- Burn-out
- Overexcitation/Sensitisation
- Lung Covid
- Fibromyalgia
-V. C. Tashjian*, (JMIR Ment Health 2017;4(1):e9) Virtual Reality for Management of Pain in Hospitalized Patients: Results of a Controlled Trial
– C. Maani MD1, Virtual reality and pain management: current trends and future directions. Pain Manag 2011 Mar;1(2):147-157 [FREE Full text] [doi: 10.2217/pmt.10.15] [Medline: 21779307]
– McCaul KD, Malott JM. Distraction and coping with pain. Psychol Bull 1984 May;95(3):516-533. [Medline: 6399756]
– Neck pain assessment in a virtual environment. Sarig-Bahat
– C.van Rossum, University of applied science Saxion Enschede, 2020, The added value of ‘virtual reality’ in the treatment of neck pain patients from KNGF treatment profiles B and C.
Chronic pain
Chronische pijn:
- WAD I&II (Trauma-related complaints)
- Post-commotional syndrome (PCS)
- Kinesiophobia
- Fibromyalgia
- Sensitisation
- ALK
The exercises in the virtual worlds fit with the following treatment goals:
- Embodiment, body awareness and self-regulation
- Stress management, lowering stress arousal
- Mood improvement
- Anxiety regulation
- Reduction of depressive feelings
- Relaxation
- Desensitisation
- Promotion of self-initiated, intuitive movements (Implicit Training)
- Improving the quantity and quality of movement
- Increasing load capacity
- Promotion of therapy compliance
