Virtual reality could be used as part of eating disorders treatment

People with lived experience of eating disorders and clinicians experienced in treating eating disorders were excited about the potential of using virtual reality (VR) to treat eating disorders, according to the results of a study published in JMIR XR and Spatial Computing. Study participants felt VR may be more engaging than other treatments but were also aware of its limitations.

Researchers conducted a series of focus groups and interviews with people with lived experience of eating disorders and clinicians to explore:

• Their views on VR
• Whether (and how) they thought VR could be used in the treatment of eating disorders

Participants were recruited through social media, eating disorder charities in the UK and professional contacts. They generated many ideas on how VR could be used during treatment. However, they also expressed the need for caution around how bodies are represented in a VR setting.

Therapeutic uses of VR suggested by participants included:

• Practicing challenging situations related to food, such as visiting cafes or supermarkets
• Retraining attention away from smaller bodies
• Representing a person’s body in different ways, or having different perspectives of their body
• Using it to allow people to represent their eating disorder
• Helping families and clinicians to understand the perspectives of people with eating disorders

All participants acknowledged the challenges of representing the self in a VR setting, and how to make such representation therapeutic and not counterproductive.

Dr Helen Bould, lead author, said:

“We know that rates of eating disorders are increasing, and that our current treatments don’t work for everyone affected. This means we urgently need new treatments and VR could be a promising avenue for developing them.

“This work highlights the need for such interventions to be co-designed with people with personal experience of eating disorders, in order to maximise their usefulness and reduce the risk of unintended harms.”