Virtual Reality and Psychedelics for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disease: A Systematic Literature Review

OBJECTIVE: Hallucinogenic substances or psychedelic drugs have been historically used by humans worldwide for centuries, and interest grows around them because of the therapeutic potential that they pose for mental disease. Virtual Reality (VR), has been highly developed and improved in the last decade, and it is also gaining importance due to their potential as therapeutic tools. In this article, the most recent and relevant information regarding the medical applications of both VR and psychedelics was highlighted, and diverse potential therapeutic uses were explored in hope to set the ground for further research on this topic. METHOD: A systematic literature review using the PRISMA methods was conducted in PubMed, Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Web of Science, including only peer-reviewed clinical trials or case studies written in English, that address the use of psychedelics and/or VR for the treatment of psychiatric disorders and that measure the success of the therapies. A final selection of 23 manuscripts were used in this systematic review. RESULTS: VR showed security and significant efficacy in the management of special cases of phobias (social, motion pain and spiders), eating disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), gambling disorder, preoperative anxiety and schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: The hallucinogenic drugs evaluated exhibited positive effects in treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders, alcohol dependence and PTSD. More research is needed in order to test the effectiveness of these therapies (alone or together) in different mental illnesses and different populations.