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Researchers Create Virtual Reality 'Parties' To Treat Drug Addiction

Posted by Unknown on from the virtual-drugs-just-not-as-much-fun dept.

Jason Koebler (3528235) writes To help people overcome drug addiction, researchers at the University of Houston's Graduate School of Social Work are building hyper-realistic virtual worlds to recreate situations that trigger cravings for nicotine, alcohol, weed, and now, hard drugs like heroin. Traditional relapse therapy usually involves roleplaying: Therapists often pretend to be a friend or some other familiar person and offer the patient their drug of choice in order to teach them avoidance strategies. By strapping patients into a virtual reality headset and running them through a familiar scenario where they commonly use the drug, like a party, the treatment can be much more realistic and effective, researchers say (video).

29 of 47 comments (clear)

  1. What if one becomes addicted to the VR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It's a viscous cycle

    1. Re:What if one becomes addicted to the VR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      There are drugs for that.

    2. Re:What if one becomes addicted to the VR? by operagost · · Score: 2

      Don't be so thick.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    3. Re:What if one becomes addicted to the VR? by BRGeek · · Score: 1

      My kingdom for mod points!!

  2. We all know the real reason for this by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

    Many respectable physicists said that they weren't going to stand for this, partly because it was a debasement of science, but mostly because they didn't get invited to those sorts of parties.

    -Douglas Adams

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  3. so in the interest of peer review by 0xdeaddead · · Score: 1

    where can you download one of these uh parties.?

  4. Hyper-realistic by jones_supa · · Score: 1

    researchers at the University of Houston's Graduate School of Social Work are building hyper-realistic virtual worlds

    I'm not sure about "hyper-realistic". :) Sprite characters which say a pre-recorded line when you trigger them? Whoopy. Actually, looking at the video, it resembles a lot the game Under a Killing Moon from 1994.

    Despite the slightly crusty appearance, I do not want to completely stomp the idea though.

  5. Virtual beer goggles by antifoidulus · · Score: 3, Funny

    So essentially I can use my Occulus Rift as virtual beer goggles then?

    --
    Monstar L
  6. Being a former drug addict, I think by Nyder · · Score: 4, Interesting

    that this is really stupid. Maybe it will help the non real addicts that people think need help, but those of us who are true addicts it's about our will power, nothing less. Back when I was strung out on heroin, it didn't matter if I went to rehab, got clean, i would be strung out again within 1 week once I got left to my own ends.

    What got me to quit was getting help for some of my mental issues, and me getting completely sick of the junky scene. I hated being dope sick. I hated the crap I did to stay well. I learned to remember all the bad shit associated with being a heroin addict, and I left that as a reminder in my mind on what the path leads to.

    On top of that, I got as far away from other users as possible. I don't want to associate with them, hang with them, even talk to them. Fuck that. If you think you can still be friends with addicts/users, you are mistaken. If they can't get clean, screw them, they will only pull you down.

    There is plenty to do without hanging around people who use/abuse drugs. If you really want to stay clean, you accept that as reality and change your life, otherwise you are just setting yourself up to fail on purpose.

    --
    Be seeing you...
    1. Re:Being a former drug addict, I think by gunz_n_space80 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well said! I know it's not the same, but I had serious problems with alcoholism years ago and got the same impression that you did from reading this article. After-school special peer pressure users or drinkers are not suffering from a real addiction. My addiction was a very personal thing for me that no one else who knew me would understand or approve of which is why I had to keep it secret. I felt OK and was able to cope only when I was under the influence, or knew that I was not far removed from being able to achieve that state. I lacked the mental toughness and tools to fix the problems that the sober me could not reconcile and turned to liquor to define me because I just could not be bothered with it. After coming face to face with the fact that I had irrevocably altered my life in a profoundly negative way, I made the choice to live life sober and take control.

    2. Re:Being a former drug addict, I think by imidan · · Score: 2

      On top of that, I got as far away from other users as possible. I don't want to associate with them, hang with them, even talk to them.

      Isn't that kind of the point of this, though, to simulate a party with those people, and immerse you in it while you're sober, and reinforce that preference to stay away from users of your drug? I mean, I don't think it's a cure-all, and it sounds like the project is too young for clinical trials or to produce statistics about relapse rates or anything, but isn't it worth checking out this avenue as a possibility for addiction therapy? I mean, maybe kicking an addiction is much about willpower, but whence that willpower?

    3. Re:Being a former drug addict, I think by Thanshin · · Score: 1

      So you are saying that hanging out with other users had potentially bad consequences.

      That seems almost exactly what they are trying to reproduce in this treatment. They are trying to bridge the gap between rehab and what you did during that one week after.

      I see it as a more practical alternative to sending a [whoever helps you during rehab] to accompany you everywhere for some weeks.

      If Muhammad has no time to go to the mountain, the mountain shall come to Muhammad, virtually.

    4. Re:Being a former drug addict, I think by SuricouRaven · · Score: 2

      In the case of most drugs, not only is it a chemical effect, but it's possible to point to the exact chemical receptors. Morphine, for example, binds to -opioid receptors - causing analgesic and euphoric effects. This causes the receptors to desensitise - which both means the morphine doesn't work so well and the dosage must be increased, and that the subject feels like crap any time they don't have enough morphine in them to counter the desensitisation to the point of physical symptoms. That's why opioids are generally not used medically unless the patient is in very severe pain, or terminal.

      Nicotine works in a similar way, affecting nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The effect is less dramatic, but the basic mechanism is the same. Just ask someone who has quit smoking how hard it was for them.

    5. Re:Being a former drug addict, I think by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      Slashdot, get some unicode support here! -opioid indeed.

    6. Re:Being a former drug addict, I think by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If you think you can still be friends with addicts/users, you are mistaken. If they can't get clean, screw them, they will only pull you down.

      I suppose it can work with hard drugs or alcohol - I am not, and never was, a user or either, so I'm no specialist though.

      However, I AM a nicotine addict. I say nicotine and not tobacco, because I have switched to vaping as a risk mitigation strategy (and quit smoking for good as a result).

      One thing I can tell you as a former smoker is, when you're hooked on tobacco, there's no escaping it. You can't avoid being with other smokers, because the smell of cigarette is everywhere. When I quit smoking, it'd only take some random guy who had just smoked outside, walking past me, reeking of cold cigarette smoke, to send me craving like there was no tomorrow.

      Random guys who smell of tobacco are everywhere. You just can't escape the smell. You're constantly bombarded with reminders that, yes, you'd really REALLY want to smoke one just right now.

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    7. Re:Being a former drug addict, I think by Thanshin · · Score: 4, Funny

      If you think being a nicotine addict makes it hard to avoid contact with the addiction, just imagine being addicted to sex.

      Your choices go from cabin in the woods to monk temple.

    8. Re:Being a former drug addict, I think by gunz_n_space80 · · Score: 1

      I think that what Nyder means is pretty much that once you fix the underlying problems in your head and with your life, there is no longer a need to hang out with people that have yet to even acknowledge that there is a problem in the first place. What could you possibly gain by that other than depressing the heck out of yourself? And what he was talking about is not what they are reproducing with the treatment because the focus of the treatment is the substance and some common situations where the substances are used or obtained, not the patient seeking treatment and the cause of him or her turning to drugs in the first place.

    9. Re:Being a former drug addict, I think by OrtegaPeru · · Score: 1

      I quit smoking cold turkey a few years ago before vaping really took off. There are a lot of factors that go into whether someone can finally quit or not, but I will say that the pleasant, tempting odor of cigarettes went away eventually. Sometimes a light tobacco scent on the air will smell good in an abstract sense but when I am around other smokers it's a pretty disgusting odor. The hardest part for me about quitting was being left out socially every time there was a smoke break. It was actually when I started smoking in high school that I made the most friends. Also at most jobs I've worked at the smokers club takes precedence over all formal rank. It's pretty twisted.

    10. Re:Being a former drug addict, I think by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

      One thing I can tell you as a former smoker is, when you're hooked on cigarettes, there's no escaping it. You can't avoid being with other smokers, because the smell of cigarette is everywhere. When I quit smoking, it'd only take some random guy who had just smoked outside, walking past me, reeking of cold cigarette smoke, to send me craving like there was no tomorrow.

      Random guys who smell of tobacco are everywhere. You just can't escape the smell. You're constantly bombarded with reminders that, yes, you'd really REALLY want to smoke one just right now.

      FTFY.

      I switched from cigarettes to a pipe about 2.5 years ago, and now I can't stand the chemical reek of coffin nails. "random guy who smells like cigarettes" grosses me out just as much as he does a non-smoker, maybe even more so. Conversely, I get complements about the smell of pipe smoke all the time, and people actually tell me, "it's cool, you can smoke in here, I like the way that smells." I still won't smoke indoors out of principle, though.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    11. Re:Being a former drug addict, I think by nblender · · Score: 1

      I quit smoking lots of times... I only quit smoking for good, once... As such, I only have one data point. I've been clean for 9 years.

      My overriding reason to quit was that I didn't want my son to know me as a smoker.

      What helped me along the way, encountering the situations you describe, were the negative aspects of what it was like as a smoker. The disgusting cough in the morning, the stench on my clothes, the blandness of my food... If I walked past a smoker, I just brought forth the memory of those negative effects and it was enough to bridge me back to normalcy. It took about 2 years before I no longer craved a cigarette... I have friends who smoke and don't even have the slightest tinge of a craving..

      I dread think of how difficult it is to quit heroine...

  7. Re:Unrealistic... by bickerdyke · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is about teaching on HOW to say no despite peer pressure.

    --
    bickerdyke
  8. Re:Unrealistic... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 3, Funny

    The nice thing about this "treatment" is that you can experience the VR party at home, where you can reach for your stash.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  9. Re:Unrealistic... by flyneye · · Score: 2

    Peer pressure has LITTLE to do with it. WILL has everything to do with it.
    First, rehab is for those who have the will to quit,want to quit, will work to quit.
    Being sent to rehab by the court or family only results in a "go along, get along" approach to rehab.
    These are the people who run out and get a fix upon release from the facility. They don't really want to quit. They enjoy their lifestyle, they are predisposed to the pleasure the drug brings and that is the way they want to live their life. The doctors and staff KNOW this.
    MOST people in rehabs aren't there by choice, but their presence indicates a stream of revenue into the rehab; so nothing will ever change.
    Carry on.....

    --
    *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  10. Re:Unrealistic... by bickerdyke · · Score: 1

    OK, you're right with that, but on the other hand it would be okay to measure the results of any therapy only compared to the number of patients who want it to be successful in the first place.

    --
    bickerdyke
  11. Re:One of these things is not like the others by devnill · · Score: 1

    I wouldn't be so fast to marginalize one habit over another. Marijuana might not be physically harmful, but I do think its a fair assessment to say that some people use it to excess and struggle controlling their use. This also can be applied to video games, internet browsing, food, and so on, but it doesn't make the issue any less severe for those who seek help.

  12. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  13. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  14. Re:Unrealistic... by KamikazeSquid · · Score: 1

    Spoken like someone who has never struggled with an addiction, but has an opinion about it anyway.

  15. with friends like these... by PJ6 · · Score: 1

    I think the entire approach is wrong-headed. Why would it be acceptable for someone who's attempting to recover from addiction hang out with people who are still using - people who would encourage them to use again, in spite of the typically massive damage to their so-called "friend's" life that landed them in rehab in the first place?