To control the voices that haunt patients with mental disorders, Prof. Julian Leff and his team have implemented a new avatar therapy. It would allow schizophrenics to control those heady and disturbing voices. In 2012, one study out of 16 had shown conclusive results. In 2015, large-scale clinical trials will be set up to evaluate this system.
Auditory hallucinations are long lasting and remain a common problem in the treatment of serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia. About 25% of people with this mental disorder live with voices and are filled with delusions of persecution. Despite treatment with antipsychotic drugs, the ability of patients to work and have relationships is markedly impaired.
“To remedy the negative consequences on the lives of patients, we have developed and evaluated a new therapy based on technology and avatars,” explains Prof. Julian Leff.
Computer avatars are first designed by patients to give shape to the voice they hear. Therapists then work to encourage patients to oppose the voice and to make sure to free oneself from it. “This new form of therapy allows each patient to create the avatar of the voice to interact with them. The therapist promotes a dialogue between the patient and the avatar. Then the doctor takes control of the digital embodiment and dialogues with behavioral therapy with his patient ”explains the author of the study.
For this study, the professor compared 14 patients treated with avatar therapy and 12 patients treated with standard antipsychotic drugs and occasional visits by therapists. Only 16 of the patients completed the study. At the end of this treatment, the patients heard less and less voices, were less anxious and suicidal than patients on medication.
“The beauty of this therapy lies in its simplicity and its brevity”, concludes Professor Thomas Craig, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, who will confront this therapy with a group of 142 patients. “Most of the psychological therapies indicated for this disease are expensive and require several months of investment. “
