VR Refugee Therapy: Responding to Mental Health Crisis with Immersive Reality to Mitigate the Trauma of the Syrian Conflict in Refugees.

The field research conducted by our team in 2017 and 2018 investigated the top health issues faced by refugees in short and long term location settings. With refugees in transit in various countries, in permanent camps, and in the process of being integrated into society in various countries. The extensive research and interviews of relief agencies, health officials, and refugees lead to the conclusion that very high rates of trauma are common in the refugees.

The 14 million Syrian refugees face dire conditions and live with little or no support while scattered in various countries in the Middle East and in Europe, a population with high rates of trauma and with little access to counseling and treatment. Very few studies have focused on the mental health of refugees due to the challenges of conducting field research, yet small surveys done by relief services on the ground have found lifetime prevalence of PTSD of 35.4%, and a point prevalence of 27.2% among adults. Research suggests that these traumatic experiences may contribute to refugees developing a constellation of mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, disordered attachments, and trauma based illnesses including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Many Syrian refugee have a greater degree of difficulty adjusting to their new settings and integrating into communities in host countries due to the trauma.

Conscious of the problem of access we have designed a therapy using virtual reality, delivered with google cardboard headsets on their mobiles, and which will employ a holistic treatment to alleviate the trauma in men, women, and children by: (1) intervening to decrease hypoarousal and protect the refugee's neuroendocrine integrity, (2) helping the patient construct a cohesive narrative of the events during the post-traumatic period and, (3) becoming an advocate for the refugees, their children, and their families, helping to empower them so they can attain mastery and control over the forces that threaten to overwhelm their coping capacities. The application of the therapy in the peritraumatic stage shows potential in preventing the advent of PTSD, currently we are prototyping in Cairo, Egypt.