Facing Social Fears: Conquering Social Anxiety in the Real World and With the Help of Virtual Reality

Abstract

Everyone feels anxious at some point in their lives. Feeling anxious can be very helpful when you are in danger, as it reminds you to avoid harmful situations. However, some people have such strong anxiety that it becomes an anxiety disorder. Such strong anxiety can cause problems and distress in people’s daily lives, and they may even start to avoid feared situations. There is a specific type of anxiety disorder in which people feel very anxious when they are around others. This is called social anxiety disorder. Fortunately, there are effective ways to help people with social anxiety, one of which is called exposure therapy. This type of therapy helps people to face their fears and learn to control their anxiety. Exposure therapy can be done in the real world or through virtual reality. In this article, we will explain how social anxiety can be tackled with exposure therapy and how virtual reality can help.