LD
Virtual Cures for Real-World Phobias
by: Patricia Edmonds
Adapted from: Reader’s Digest, January 2005
1.
Charlice Noble-Jones was on a fast track. At 25, she managed a team at Deutsche Bank
that processed billions of dollars in currency transfers every day. Her office was next to the
South Tower of the World Trade Center. Then came September 11, 2001. That morning, NobleJones emerged from the subway to see the North Tower with a hole in it. “I remember the sound
of the fire,” she says, “and the people jumping out of the windows.” She ran through showering
debris, past “a lady with beautiful red hair…lying on the ground bleeding.” For months afterward,
Noble-Jones says, she was “a zombie.” She felt no grief, no joy, just “days of anger.”
2.
Her mother finally got her an appointment with JoAnn Difede, a post-traumatic stress disorder
expert at Cornell University’s Weill Medical College, who suggested virtual reality (VR) therapy.
Noble-Jones remembers scoffing, “I stopped playing video games years ago.” But she went,
and a few minutes into her first session, she was in tears. The VR program took Noble-Jones
into a virtual world that made her feel she was reliving the events of 9/11. Where it showed her
simulated buildings, she saw her bookstore and dry cleaner; where it used humans, she saw a
man and woman falling, holding hands. After six sessions of successively more detailed scenes,
a remarkable thing happened. Noble-Jones no longer showed symptoms of severe posttraumatic stress or depression.
3.
Welcome to a new kind of therapy, where cures are computer-generated. From New York to
Milan, virtual reality is being used to treat crippling phobias and soothe physical and mental
anguish. The therapy has even showed promise as a treatment for stubborn conditions like
eating disorders and addictions.
Questions
1. Why does the writer tell us about Charlice Noble-Jones?
______________________________________________________________________
2. What event made Charlice try VR therapy?
______________________________________________________________________
3. Complete: In the virtual world created by the VR program, Charlice had to
______________________________________________________________________
4. Write TRUE or FALSE
VR therapy did not help Charlice Noble-Jones. TRUE I FALSE
Support your answer by quoting from the text.
Par. # ____ --- ________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
4.
In a typical VR experience, a helmet blocks out the real world and immerses the patient in the
sights and sounds of a computer-generated 3-D world. The helmet positions goggle-size
television screens close to each eye, enabling the patient to see a single image with realism and
depth. Headphones supply the sound; joysticks and gloves let the patient manipulate the scene.
This combined sensory input creates the illusion of being in the virtual world.
5.
The technology is so promising that the National Institute on drug abuse (NIDA) supports 16 VR
research projects. “People are coming up with more and more clever ways of using this,” says
Dave Thomas, co-chair of NIDA’s virtual reality working group. “But we’re just scratching the
surface.”
6.
The visionary behind this new therapy tool was a computer scientist from Georgia Tech. In
the early 1990s, Larry Hodges had an idea. He knew that the military had used VR for years –
introducing flight simulators, for instance, to help pilots nail a landing. Maybe riding a simulated
elevator could help acrophobics conquer their fear of heights.
7.
In 1993 Hodges teamed with Emory University’s Barbara Rothbaum, an expert in anxiety
disorders, to develop a VR program that made fear-of-heights patients feel they were ascending
in an open elevator or crossing a rope-and-ladder bridge over a canyon. The pair weren’t sure
whether they were “on the cutting edge or the lunatic fringe,” Rothbaum says. But when their
test subjects showed dramatically reduced fear of heights in the real world, VR therapy was
born.
Questions
5. (par. 4) "This combined sensory input creates the illusion of being in that virtual
world." Which senses are involved in the combined sensory input? (List 3)
______________________
_____________________
_____________________
6. Complete: VR therapy was first used successfully to cure ______________________
____________________________ .
_______________________________________________________________________
8.
Researchers are still learning how VR works, but the basic principle is this: Experiences in the
virtual world allow patients to develop coping responses, which then serve them in real life. With
phobias, for instance, VR exposes patients to what they fear – like spiders – until they learn to
manage their anxiety.
9.
Jenny Moore was an Illinois high school senior in 1990 when, after years of jetting to family
vacations, she suddenly found herself panicked on a flight. “I promised myself I’d never get on
another plane,” she recalls. And for ten years, she didn’t. To avoid flying, she chose a college
close to home, and even insisted on a honeymoon within driving distance when she married in
1997. After she and her husband moved to the Washington, D.C., area, car trips with their baby
to see Illinois relatives were nightmares. Moore feared she’d never be able to take her daughter
to Disney World.
10.
When standard counseling failed, Moore visited Maryland psychologist and VR practitioner
Keith Saylor in August 2000. At one time, Saylor would have taken Moore on real airplanes to
confront her fear directly. But airline flights are costly and inconvenient. With VR therapy,
though, Moore could be “on a jet” while sitting in Saylor’s office. The digital simulation was of a
familiar cabin view: aisle, overhead compartments, seats. To her left was a window view of the
tarmac. Headphones delivered the hum of engines, a flight attendant’s patter and the ka-chunk
of cargo doors closing.
11.
The VR flight felt so real that Moore, weeping, asked to stop. But over the next month and a
half, her tolerance grew, until she “flew” calmly even through simulated storms. By November,
she was ready for the graduation flight – a real plane trip. Moore was nervous as the jet door
closed. But in-flight, she was fine. “I’m flying! I can’t believe it!” she exclaimed. In the four years
since, Moore has flown repeatedly – including that trip to Disney World with her daughter.
12.
Moore’s success is backed by research. In a study comparing 14 fear-of-flying patients who did
VR therapy with 13 treated on real planes, VR did as well as the traditional method: Within six
months, all but one from each group were able to fly. Phobias like fear of flying are fanned by
environmental cues, says NIDA’s Dave Thomas. VR lets you “control the cues in extremely
slight ways.”
Questions
7. Apply the information from paragraph 8 to answer the following question.
Jonah is scared of the dark. Explain how virtual therapy might help him.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
8. What does the story of Jenny Moore demonstrate?
______________________________________________________________________
9. a. In paragraph 12, what is the traditional method of treating fear of flying?
______________________________________________________________________
b. Write TRUE or FALSE
The traditional method of coping with fear of flying yields better results than VR
therapy. TRUE / FALSE
Support your answer by quoting from the text.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
13.
This feature
makes VR a potential tool against addiction as well. Emory’s Rothbaum has
developed a “virtual crack house” that she hopes will help addicts practice resisting people or
things that make them want to use drugs. Similar programs might help alcoholics and smokers.
14.
It’s not always realism that makes VR effective. There’s more fantasy than reality in SnowWorld,
a program developed by University of Washington psychologist Hunter Hoffman. Visitors fly
through an ice canyon of bluish crags, over an iceberg-dotted river and past a frigid waterfall.
They shoot snowballs at comic-book snowmen and feel the thud of impact when the snowballs
land.
15.
And sojourns in SnowWorld have provided relief for patients who are undergoing painful
medical procedures. Tacoma, Washington, plumber Mike Robinson, 37, was working on a car in
2003 when its gas tank exploded, causing second-degree burns on his arms. Despite doses of
morphine, the daily wound cleansings “hurt like hell.” But when he used SnowWorld during the
treatment, he says, “I didn’t even feel it.” When patients are engrossed in VR simulations,
explains pain researcher Dave Patterson, they have “less attention available to process pain
signals.”
16.
As Virtual Reality
therapy begins its second decade, innovations crowd the horizon. To
assess students with ADHD, University of Southern California researcher Skip Rizzo uses a
“virtual classroom” that lets him manipulate distractions and gauge students’ reactions. VR may
also help autistic kids improve social skills. One day patients may have VR gear at home, for
24-7 access to cyber support groups that help them resist alcohol or overeating.
17.
Few know better than Charlice Noble-Jones the promise that VR therapy holds. Once her
treatment for the shock of 9/11 ended, Noble-Jones’s life turned around in other ways. She
reconciled with the fiancé she had pushed away, married him and moved to Georgia, where
they’re running family businesses and raising a one-year-old son. Noble-Jones grants that there
may always be “things that will draw me back” to 9/11 – a low-flying plane, perhaps, or an
explosion in a movie. But thanks to VR therapy, she says, “I don’t have to stay there.”
Questions
10. Apart from helping people cope with stress and phobias, what are other uses of VR
therapy?
a.
__________________________________________________________
b.
__________________________________________________________
c.
__________________________________________________________
d.
__________________________________________________________
e.
helping people resist overeating____________________________________
11. Is VR always based on reliving real-life situations?
YES I NO
Support your answer by quoting from the text.
______________________________________________________________________
12. Why do VR therapy patients feel less pain when going through painful procedures?
______________________________________________________________________
13. What is the main purpose of this text?
a.
To present the use of VR therapy in coping with phobias
b.
To illustrate various benefits and uses of VR therapy
c.
To describe the steps involved in creating virtual reality
d.
To compare VR therapy with other kinds of treatment
Exercises adapted from Dr. Anna Lyubman
Virtual Cures for Real-World Phobias
Exercise I: Pre-Reading Quiz
In this unit, you are going to read about phobias. A ‘phobia’ is an illogical, persistent fear of
something. What phobias are you familiar with? Check your knowledge by taking the following
quiz.
Phobia Quiz
1. Claudia is a famous singer. However, her fans can only listen to her songs on the radio as
she never gives live performances. This is because Claudia has agoraphobia, or a fear of
a. singing
b. new contacts
c. crowds and public places
2. Unlike most children, little Johnny does not like movies about Garfield because he suffers
from allurophobia, or a fear of
a. watching movies
b. cats
c. children
3. Being a student in an English class may be especially hard for some people who have
anglophobia, or a fear of
a. objects with sharp angles
b. England or anything English
c. learning
4. A person might never marry if s/he suffered from philophobia, or a fear of
a. going to classical music concerts
b. giving gifts to other people
c. being or falling in love
5. In his free time, Michael spends hours watching movies on TV, but he hates going to movies.
He suffers from achluophobia, or a fear of
a. darkness
b. movies
c. leaving home
6.
Sarah eats like a bird because she has obesophobia, or a fear of
a. birds
b. gaining weight
c. washing dishes
7. Young Bob prefers to look for information in encyclopedias and dictionaries rather than on the
Internet. He suffers from technophobia, or a fear of
a. computers
b. studying
c. books
8. Doing this quiz about phobias would be difficult for someone with phobophobia, or a fear of
a. developing phobias
b. doing tests
c. teachers
Exercise II: Previewing the Text
1. Look at the title of the article. Based on the title, what do you expect the text to discuss?
a. various characteristics of real-life phobias
b. real phobias as opposed to imagined ones
c. a specific treatment for real-life phobias
d. psychotherapy as a way of curing phobias
2. Look through the first two paragraphs. What specific treatment for phobias is being discussed?
______________________________________________
3. Look through the text and list at least 5 phobias and problems that can be cured with the help of
virtual reality.
Phobia/Problem
Paragraph #
a. ___________________________________
_________
b. ___________________________________
_________
c. ___________________________________
_________
d. ___________________________________
_________
e. ___________________________________
_________
4. What is the purpose of paragraphs 3 – 5 of the article?
To explain the _______________________________________________________
5. Which paragraph(s) is/are the conclusion? _____________
Virtual Cures for Real-World Phobias – Vocabulary
Underline the following words in the text and study their meanings.
Word
Par. #
Word
Par. #
1. simulated (adj.)
2,6,11
9. response (n.)
8
simulator (n);
6
respond (v.);
simulation (n)
10,15
responsive (adj.)
2. successively (adv.)
2
10. addiction (n.)
succeed (v.); successive (adj.)
addict (n.); addicted (adj.)
[cf. successful (adj.)]
addictive (adj.)
3. remarkable (adj.)
2
remark (n., v.)
11. expose (v.)
3,13
8
exposure (n.);
exposed (adj.)
4. severe (adj.)
2
severity (n.)
12. confront (v.)
10
confrontation (n.)
5. cure (n.,v.)
3
13. feature (n.)
13
6. conquer (v.)
6
14. resist (v.)
13,16
resistance (n.)
7. reduced (adj.)
7
reduction (n.);
15. innovation (n.)
16
innovative (adj.)
reduce (v.)
8. coping (adj.,v.)
cope (v.)
8
16. assess (v.)
16
assessment (n.)
Exercise 1
Answer the following questions in full sentences. Make sure you know the meanings of the
vocabulary words in bold print.
1. How can driving simulators help new drivers learn to drive?
___________________________________________________________________
2. Do you think it is remarkable to learn many foreign languages? ________________
3. Which countries have severe winters? (List at least 2.)
___________________________________________________________________
4. Suppose you love someone and this person does not love you. How might you overcome
his/her resistance and conquer his/her heart?
___________________________________________________________________
5. What homemade remedies do you know of to cure a cold?
___________________________________________________________________
6. What are you addicted to?
___________________________________________________________________
7. What are some ways to reduce conflict in a marriage?
___________________________________________________________________
8. What are some effects on children of too much exposure to TV violence?
___________________________________________________________________
9. If you could confront someone that you are angry with, what would you say?
___________________________________________________________________
10. List three features that you would like to have in a new car.
___________________________________________________________________
11. How can a teacher assess the level of his/her students?
___________________________________________________________________
12. If you were chosen to succeed your boss, what would your response be?
___________________________________________________________________
13. List two innovative ways of coping with a water shortage.
___________________________________________________________________
Exercise 2: Writing Sentences
The word “succeed” has two very different meanings. Write 2 sentences with a form of the word.
Each sentence should use a different meaning of the word.
1. Meaning 1: succeed / succession / successive / successively
______________________________________________________________________
2. Meaning 2: succeed / success / successful / successfully
______________________________________________________________________
Exercise 3: Cloze
Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with words from the word list.
A phobia is a group of symptoms that are caused by
___________________ to something that a person fears
intensely. Phobias may take many forms: some people cannot
__________________ with animals; others_________________
assessment
social situations such as being out in public, and some fear certain
confront
activities like flying on an airplane. Phobias are usually
conquer
___________________: most people who seek treatment for their
cope
curable
phobia ___________________ it for life.
exposed
In behavior therapy, a person ___________________ his/her fear
exposure
through increasingly difficult experiences in which he/she is
reduce
___________________ to the feared object or situation in a safe
resist
environment.
Medication
may
also
be
used
to
___________________ the panic attacks that are a typical
___________________ to exposure. The most important thing is
to tell a doctor if you suffer from a ___________________ phobia;
the first step to solving the problem is a professional
___________________
response
severe