Smartphone VR app is effective for reducing fear of flying 

This study is the first to show that a smartphone app in combination with rudimentary $5 ‘cardboard’ virtual reality goggles can reduce fear of flying, also in the longer term. The study results were published in Psychological Medicine.

The ZeroPhobia Fear of Flying app is based on cognitive behavioral therapy and consists of a series of modules that are guided by a virtual therapist. The app furthermore consists of different virtual reality environments in which users practice with checking in at the airport, the boarding process, take off, turbulence and landing. Users also do assignments, such as reassuring an anxious fellow passenger.

The study
The study was conducted among 153 Dutch respondents suffering from fear of flying who were randomly assigned to the treatment condition or a control condition. People in the experimental condition got access to the app and were at liberty to decide when, how often and where they used ZeroPhobia. They used the app on their own without contact with the researchers or healthcare professionals.

Participants’ fear of flying levels were measured before and immediately after the treatment, as well as 3 months and 12 months later. For the experimental group fear of flying symptoms were significantly reduced at all measurements points, whereas no changes were observed in the control group.

Access to treatment
It is estimated that one in 10 people worldwide require mental health care at any one point in time. Yet only nine mental health workers are available for every 10.000 people. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated this situation as the prevalence of mental health problems has increased dramatically, while access to evidence- based treatment has dwindled. “Treatments that can be provided without the intervention of a healthcare professional may be necessary to counter this trend”, according to Donker

Does it make sense to develop treatment for fear of flying in the context of the climate crisis? Donker thinks it does: “We developed this app for people who experience reduced quality of life because of their fear. Think of people who have children or grandchildren overseas or people who need to fly for their jobs”. What’s more important is that ZeroPhobia demonstrates the potential of automated treatment that can provide access to evidence-based healthcare for people who do not receive healthcare right now: “The experience we gained from developing ZeroPhobia can be used to develop treatment for other disorders, such as depression and burnout”.

ZeroPhobia
Tara Donker is associate professor at the department of clinical psychology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and senior researcher at Freiburg University (Germany) and is also a licensed therapist. She is co-founder of ZeroPhobia, a start-up dedicated to scalable, evidence-based, and affordable treatment.

Donker has developed three different app-based treatments: fear of flying, fear of heights, and fear of spiders. The fear of flying and fear of heights apps are available in the app stores. The fear of spiders app is currently being tested for effectiveness in a clinical trial and will be available early 2023.