The Issue
Stress and anxiety have been identified as one of the largest health crises in the 21st century.
In any given year, 1 in 5 people in Canada will personally experience a mental health problem or illness & approximately 8% of adult’s experience major depression at some time in their lives. By age 40, about 50% of Canada’s population will have or have had a mental illness.
Employers lose productivity to stress through absenteeism, reduced work output, and increased disability claims. Mental health problems alone are estimated to cost employers about $20 billion annually and account for over three-quarters of short-term disability claims in Canada [1].
The lack of external resources for stress management and coping mechanisms have left a lot of people feeling helpless against this problem, with no real assistance to fight this ailment.
The Science
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MSBR) has quickly become one of the most prescribed stress management techniques by medical and mental health professionals.
An emerging field to combat this pandemic is the use of advanced Virtual Reality (VR) combined with these MSBR techniques. Many studies have shown that the use of new realistic VR headsets, combined with immersive experiences tailor-made for the patient can lead to a significant reduction in stress and anxiety [2], an increase in positivity and mood [3] and, perhaps most importantly, providing the user the tools and techniques for prolonged stress management and improved long term mental health.
[1] https://cmha.ca/fast-facts-about-mental-illness#:~:text=In%20any%20given%20year%2C%201,some%20time%20in%20their%20lives.
[2] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01280/full
[3] https://www.neuroregulation.org/article/view/18385/12014