A Virtual Reality Game to Assess OCD Symptoms.

Background: Symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are often underreported by patients and mainly triggered in the patients private domain, making it harder for clinicians to recognize OCD. Virtual reality (VR) can be used to assess OCD symptoms in the clinician's office. We developed a VR game in order to provoke subjective and physiological OCD symptoms. We hypothesize that (1) the VR game provokes more OCD symptoms in patients compared to healthy controls, (2) performing virtual compulsions leads to a reduction in emotional responses in OCD patients and that (3) the severity of VR game provoked symptoms correlates with severity of OCD symptoms. Methods: Participants played the VR game on a laptop while physiological measures were recorded simultaneously. We measured emotional responses, virtual compulsions and physiological arousal in response to our VR game in 26 OCD patients and 26 healthy controls. We determined correlations between emotional responses, virtual compulsions and OCD severity. Results: We found higher levels of VR-provoked anxiety (U = 179.5, p = 0.004) and virtual compulsions in OCD patients compared to healthy controls (p = 0.001). There was a significant reduction in emotional responses after performing virtual compulsions in the OCD patients. The emotional responses and virtual compulsions did not correlate significantly with Y-BOCS scores. A baseline difference between patients and healthy controls was found in heart rate variability (HRV), but no significant change in HRV, heartrate and skin conductance was found during the VR game Conclusions: Our study clearly shows our OCD VR game is capable of provoking more anxiety and virtual compulsions in patients with OCD compared to healthy controls. Providing a direct patient-rated measurement in the clinicians room, the VR game could help in assessing core OCD symptoms and recognizing OCD. Clinical Trial Registry Number: Netherlands Trial Register NTR5935.

Social media and smartphone technology in the symptomatology of OCD.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disabling and heterogeneous psychiatric disorder. In line with the trend towards globalisation and modern technology, the thematic content of obsessions and compulsions is bound to evolve over time. However, assessment scales such as the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale symptom checklist are not adapted accordingly. By means of two case reports, we would like to introduce social media and smartphone technology in the content of obsessions and compulsions. Our aim is to raise awareness among clinicians of these topics in key symptomatology of OCD and to propose a flexible adaptation of the Y-BOCS symptom checklist. Furthermore, we encourage the development of exposure and response prevention exercises with a focus on social media and smartphone technology.

Virtual Reality Objectifies the Diagnosis of Psychiatric Disorders: A Literature Review.

BACKGROUND: To date, a diagnosis in psychiatry is largely based on a clinical interview and questionnaires. The retrospective and subjective nature of these methods leads to recall and interviewer biases. Therefore, there is a clear need for more objective and standardized assessment methods to support the diagnostic process. The introduction of virtual reality (VR) creates the possibility to simultaneously provoke and measure psychiatric symptoms. Therefore, VR could contribute to the objectivity and reliability in the assessment of psychiatric disorders. OBJECTIVE: In this literature review, we will evaluate the assessment of psychiatric disorders by means of VR environments. First, we investigate if these VR environments are capable of simultaneously provoking and measuring psychiatric symptoms. Next, we compare these measures with traditional diagnostic measures. METHODS: We performed a systematic search using PubMed, Embase, and Psycinfo; references of selected articles were checked for eligibility. We identified studies from 1990 to 2016 on VR used in the assessment of psychiatric disorders. Studies were excluded if VR was used for therapeutic purposes, if a different technique was used, or in case of limitation to a non-clinical sample. RESULTS: A total of 39 studies were included for further analysis. The disorders most frequently studied included schizophrenia (n = 15), developmental disorders (n = 12), eating disorders (n = 3), and anxiety disorders (n = 6). In attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, the most comprehensive measurement was used including several key symptoms of the disorder. Most of the studies, however, concerned the use of VR to assess a single aspect of a psychiatric disorder. DISCUSSION: In general, nearly all VR environments studied were able to simultaneously provoke and measure psychiatric symptoms. Furthermore, in 14 studies, significant correlations were found between VR measures and traditional diagnostic measures. Relatively small clinical sample sizes were used, impeding definite conclusions. Based on this review, the innovative technique of VR shows potential to contribute to objectivity and reliability in the psychiatric diagnostic process.

A Virtual Reality Game to Assess Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

The retrospective and subjective nature of clinical interviews is an important shortcoming of current psychiatric diagnosis. Consequently, there is a clear need for objective and standardized tools. Virtual reality (VR) can be used to achieve controlled symptom provocation, which allows direct assessment for the clinician. We developed a video VR game to provoke and assess obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms in a standardized and controlled environment. The first objective was to evaluate if the VR game is capable of provoking symptoms in OCD patients as opposed to healthy controls. The second objective was to evaluate the tolerability of the VR game in OCD patients. The VR game was created using a first-person perspective and confronted patients with 15 OCD-specific items, while simultaneously measuring OCD symptoms, including the number of compulsions, anxiety, tension, uncertainty, and urge to control. In this pilot study, eight patients and eight healthy controls performed the VR game. OCD patients performed significantly more compulsions (U = 5, p = 0.003) during the VR game. The anxiety, tension, uncertainty, and urge to control in response to the specific items were also higher for OCD patients, although significance was not yet reached because of the small sample. There were no substantial adverse effects. The results of this pilot study indicate that the VR game is capable of provoking a variety of OCD symptoms in OCD patients, as opposed to healthy controls, and is a potential valuable tool to objectify and standardize an OCD diagnosis.

A case of digital hoarding.

A 47-year-old man presented to our outpatient clinic, preoccupied with hoarding of digital pictures, which severely interfered with his daily functioning. He was formerly diagnosed with autism and hoarding of tactile objects. As of yet, digital hoarding has not been described in the literature. With this case report, we would like to introduce 'digital hoarding' as a new subtype of hoarding disorder. We conclude with differential diagnostic considerations and suggestions for treatment.