VRforDrugRehabilitation - Handbook
VRforDrugRehabilitation - Handbook
VRforDrugRehabilitation - Handbook
VRforDrugRehabilitation:
Developing and Using Virtual Reality
Technology for Rehabilitation of Drug Users in
Probation Service
HANDBOOK OF
VRFORDRUGREHABİLİTATİON
PROGRAMME
Authors: Gorkem YARARBAS1 , Inci Derya YUCEL2
1: Assoc. Prof. Dr., Ege University Institute on Drug Abuse, Toxicology and
Pharmaceutical Science
PARTNERSHIPS
3. WHAT IS ADDICTION? 6
3.1. EPIDEMIOLOGY 6
3.2. EXPLAINING THE ADDICTION 6
3.2.1. REWARD SYSTEM 7
3.2.2. PHYSIOLOGICAL REGULATION: 7
3.2.3. RECEPTORS 7
3.3. PARTS OF THE BRAIN RELATED TO ADDICTION 8
3.4. WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME 9
3.5. CHANGE CONSISTS OF STAGES 9
5.1. ADVANTAGES 12
5.2. DISADVANTAGES 12
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY 15
1. Overview
According to the Council of Europe latest report, there are around 1.6 million people
under the supervision or care of the probation services in Europe, representing an
average rate of 219 probationers per 100.000 inhabitants. It is well documented the
high prevalence of drug use among probationers and the wider offender population.
In fact, a large proportion of people who come into contact with the criminal justice
system has a history of drug use and many continue to use drugs while imprisoned,
switching to more harmful patterns of drug use in some cases.
Research also shows that ex-inmates return to environments that strongly trigger
relapse to drug use and put them at risk of overdose. For these reasons, prison and
probation contexts are important settings for the provision of responses that address
drug use and its harms to health.
In terms of treatment options, research shows that new technologies such as Virtual
Reality (VR), augmented reality, hold promise in supporting individuals in substance
misuse treatment and rehabilitation. VR – immersive, multi-sensory and viewer-
centred three-dimensional computer-generated environments – is gaining
considerable attention as a research, education, and treatment tool.
Objectives
● Decrease drug use among young probationers through a VR drug treatment
programme;
● Develop an assessment tool for testing VR sessions’ effects;
● Enhance awareness and capacity on probation services to create a
methodology of rehabilitation by using VR;
● Increase young adult people's motivation to change their lives;
● Reduce stereotypes in the community that drug addicted people cannot
change;
● Disseminate the project’s outputs to other prison and probation services.
3. What is addiction?
3.1. Epidemiology
Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and behavioral addiction are prevalent in many
countries and require a multidisciplinary approach. Unfortunately, only a minority
(7.1%) of patients even in high income countries, receives adequate treatment.
• Around 83 million or 29.9% of adults (aged 15-64) in the European Union are
estimated to have used illicit drugs at least once in their lifetime.
• Experience of drug use is more frequently reported by males (50.6 million)
than females (32.8 million).
• The most commonly tried drug is cannabis (47.6 million males) and (30.9
million females).
• An estimated 17.4 million young adults (ages 15-34) used drugs in the last
year (16.9%).
3.2.3. Receptors:
Every neuron in our brain has receptors on its surface that receive signals from
nearby neurons. And these receptors can be affected by drug use (NIDA). For
example, if nicotine reaches the brain, there are nicotinicacetylcholine receptors to
which it binds, and as a result of binding, nicotine shows its effect in the brain.
Repetitive substance intakes may include changes in the number of these receptors,
in the prevalence of representation areas in the brain, or in the sensitivity of the
receptor. For instance; repetitive use of alcohol increasing the dose needed to
achieve the same effect
3.3. Parts of the Brain Related to Addiction
Addiction treatments means a new process of adaptation and change.
Nucleus Accumbens:
Prefrontal Cortex:
It is where information from different sources is organized and combined and the
behavior to be revealed is decided.
- In the evolutionary process, the more advanced species have grown in volume.
- Prefrontal cortex and age variables are correlated with each other. As the individual
ages, the prefrontal cortex develops.
- The prefrontal cortex is the part that takes the longest to develop during human
development. Myelination continues until puberty.
- Child or a young adult may have difficulty in making the right decision in their
behavior due to the immaturity of prefrontal cortex development.
It is the region where the dopaminergic cell bodies of the mesocorticolimbic system
originate.
- Motivation, orgasm
- Has neurons that extend to many brain areas
Amygdala:
The region with a primary role in the formation of emotional memory and emotional
reactions.
There are withdrawal syndrome situations that vary according to the properties of the
substances, continue for different durations and occur in different severity.
This is related to the difference in the changes that occur in the adaptation
processes.
Progress
There are also other approaches using virtual reality such as mindfulness.
Mindfulness has been applied as clinical interventions based on the notion that it is a
method for training attention and awareness (Kabat-Zinn, 1982) to cope with
addiction problems and to provide stress management in daily life. Different types of
meditation practice may be associated with unique frequency patterns, reflecting the
form of attention (Dunn et al., 1999).
First Session: The purpose of this session is to provide to the patient; is to encourage
them to reevaluate their thoughts and feelings that lead to change
Fourth Session: In the fourth session, it is the period when the individual implements
the plan, takes steps to change the existing behavior pattern and starts to create a
new behavior pattern.
Fifth Session: In the fourth session, it is the period when the individual implements
the plan, takes steps to change the existing behavior pattern and starts to create a
new behavior pattern
Sixth Session: In the sixth session, the "Five-Factor Wise Awareness Scale" to
assess the level of mindfulness learned from the second session, the "Warwick
Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale" to measure the level of mental well-being, and
the qualitative aspect of not using substances, to evaluate the change process and
the “Change Stages Form” will be applied to the patient by the specialist.
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baer, R. A., Smith, G. T., Hopkins, J., Krietemeyer, J., & Toney, L. (2006). Using
Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness.
Assessment, 13, 27–45. doi:10.1177/1073191105283504
Dunn, B. R., Hartigan, J. A., & Mikulas, W. L. (1999). Concentration and mindfulness
meditations: unique forms of consciousness? Applied Psychophysiology and
Biofeedback, 24, 147–165. doi:10.1023/a:1023498629385
Fell, J., Axmacher, N., & Haupt, S. (2010). From alpha to gamma:
Electrophysiological correlates of meditation-related states of consciousness.
Medical Hypotheses, 75, 218-224.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2010.02.025
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full catastrophe living. Using the wisdom of your body and
mind to face stress, pain, and illness. New York: Guilford Press.
Kitson, A., Schiphorst, T., & Riecke, B. E. (2018). Are You Dreaming? Proceedings of
the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI ’18.
doi:10.1145/3173574.3173917
Lomas, T., Ivtzan, I., & Fu, C. H. Y. (2015). A systematic review of the
neurophysiology of mindfulness on EEG oscillations. Neuroscience &
Biobehavioral Reviews, 57, 401–410. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.09.018
Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. Harper and Row, New York, London.
Segawa, T., Baudry, T., Bourla, A., Blanc, J.-V., Peretti, C.-S., Mouchabac, S., &
Ferreri, F. (2020). Virtual Reality (VR) in Assessment and Treatment of
Addictive Disorders: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 13.
doi:10.3389/fnins.2019.01409
Yardley, S., Teunissen, P. W., & Dornan, T. (2012). Experiential learning: AMEE
guide no. 63. Med Teach, 34, 102–115.
Yin, R. (1994). Case Study Research: Design and Methods (2nd edition). Beverly
Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
Project No: 2018-3-TR01-KA205-061550
VRforDrugRehabilitation:
Developing and Using Virtual Reality
Technology for Rehabilitation of Drug Users in
Probation Service
HANDBOOK OF
VRFORDRUGREHABİLİTATİON
PROGRAMME