The new technologies on the treatments of me

Running Head: NEW TECHNOLOGIES ON THE TREATMENTS OF MENTAL ILLNESS
New Technologies on the Treatments of Mental Illness
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NEW TECHNOLOGIES ON THE TREATMENTS OF MENTAL ILLNESS 2
Introduction
Mental illness is defined as a health condition that alters an individual’s thinking,
behavior, and feelings resulting in distress and inefficient functioning. Mental illness shows
different signs and symptoms; thus, and some may not look sick when the mental illness is mild
while others with specific symptoms may look confused, agitated, wild, and withdrawn. Some
examples of mental illness include depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
autism, schizophrenia, and d obsessive-compulsive disorder, among others (Bota, Fraser &
Groysman, 2017). It is worth noting that there exists a small difference between brain disorders
and mental illness; diseases are considered as mental illness; some are categorized as brain
disorders such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s since they affect the neurons.
Globally, mental illness affects one of every four people either directly or indirectly, and about
3% of the population tends to have more than one mental illness at a time. According to Bota,
Fraser & Groysman, (2017) by the end of 2030, depression will be the most significant single
healthcare despair costing more than $ 6 trillion to treat globally.
Mental illness has continued being a health issue among the population since most of the
current treatment methods are unable to cure the disease purely. Most of the mental illnesses are
always treated with a focus on the symptoms to allow the victim to resume normal functioning in
work and social environment. Some of the conventional medication includes psychotherapy
treatment method that engages both the mental health professional and patient in an elaborate
discussion of the feelings and problems to change behavior pattern and to enhance self-
management skills, among others (Berg, 2018). Other treatments include brain stimulation, such
as electroconvulsive and hospital and residential treatment programs. However, due to
technological advancement, new technologies have been developed to aid in the treatment of

NEW TECHNOLOGIES ON THE TREATMENTS OF MENTAL ILLNESS 3
mental illness; thus, the following paper focuses on elaborating the latest technologies on mental
illness treatment.
Technology is currently transforming mental health care faster than we expected. Science
has proven to be unequivocal that evidence-based cognitive and behavioral therapy is delivered
to psychiatric patients irrespective of the location (Wan & Lam, 2019). The most appropriate
new technology thus is virtual reality (VR), which refers to immersive, interactive, multi-
sensory, viewer-cantered, three-dimensional computer-generated environments. The idea of VR
was coined in 1957 by Morton Heiling, a cinematographer who perceived that people tend to be
drawn into stories only if all the senses are stimulated. This led to the development of a head-
mounted display that could be mounted into the computer to bring the virtual world like the real
world (Wan & Lam, 2019). The sensory data from the virtual world thus would be used in the
real world. The application of the VR in the medical environment thus came into light in the
1990s used as diagnostic tools, treatment, counseling, and rehabilitation of the mental illness
among the military men who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan (Sabia & Anger, 2016). VR has
been effective in treating spider phobia, fear for heights, panic disorder, trypanophobia, and
agoraphobia, among many others. It has also been used in rehabilitating autistic adults and
developing other independence skills such as crossing roads among unstable mental patients.
VR is always used in treating posttraumatic disorders by exposing patients to the sources
of diseases such as virtual battlefields. The basis of the treatment is that when a patient is
exposed to the virtual cause of disorder along with relation training, the patient will enable to
adapt to the stress source and gain relevant skills of managing the stress over a given period
(Wan & Lam, 2019). VR-based therapy in mental illness cases has shown considerable benefits
in managing the circumstances; however, it is believed that the process also has some side