Seeing is believing, at least in the case of a new pilot treatment for drug-resistant schizophrenia that has patients interact with digital avatars of the imagined voices in their heads. The “avatar therapy,” was designed by researchers at University College London in the UK and is being expanded to larger clinical trial in July, after it helped quiet the voices in the heads of a small group of patients for whom more traditional prescription drug treatments proved ineffective. “They know that [the avatar] cannot harm them, as opposed to the voices, which often threaten to kill or harm them and their family,” said Julian Leff, the UCL mental health professor who developed the treatment. “As a result the therapy helps patients gain the confidence and courage to confront the avatar, and their persecutor.”
via The Verge
