Social anxiety · VR in clinical practice
Social Anxiety Disorder
Intense fear of social situations involving scrutiny: public speaking, eating in a restaurant, interviews, parties, work meetings.
No card required. Explore the catalogue and information screens. Clinical sessions require activation.
Why VR for this phobia?
You can't reproduce the variability of a real audience in the office. VR lets you control audience size, facial reactions, hostile versus friendly questions, and repeat the critical sequences until they consolidate.
VR hierarchy · 5 graded levels
Each level should be completed with SUDS in the target range across at least two consecutive sessions before advancing. The most common mistake is moving up levels too fast because the scenario is so easy to change.
- 1
Half-full restaurant, a meal with a partner
SUDS target: ≤4
- 2
One-on-one job interview with standard questions
SUDS target: ≤5
- 3
Six-person work meeting, speaking up once
SUDS target: ≤5
- 4
A 5-minute presentation to 15 people with questions
SUDS target: ≤4
- 5
A 20-minute talk to an audience of 50
SUDS target: ≤3
Clinical notes
Frequent comorbidity with depression and substance use — treat the affective component in parallel. Social anxiety responds better to prolonged exposure (a 30-minute-plus session) than to many short exposures. The auditorium scenario lets you grade room fill, gaze pressure, and murmur level, and fire one-off events (a cough, someone walking out, the whole room turning to look).
Specific contraindications
- Active, untreated major depressive disorder
- Alcohol use disorder used as a coping mechanism
The cockpit
17 clinician controls
Published controls for Social anxiety. Review options and requirements when preparing the session; some settings depend on scenario state.
Settings
- Room fill (%) — from 0 to 100
- Audience attitude — Friendly · Neutral · Hostile
- Audience attention — from 0 to 1
- Hall murmur — from 0 to 1
- Lighting — Lit hall · Dimmed + follow spot · Neutral (rehearsal)
Settings
- Applause — one-off action
- Cough — one-off action
- Phone rings — one-off action
- Murmur wave — one-off action
- All eyes on you — one-off action
- Someone leaves — one-off action
Settings
- Ambient volume — from 0 to 1
Settings
- Exposure level — 5 levels
- Patient posture — Seated · Standing
Settings
- Calm audience — one-off action
- Paused — on or off
- Emergency exit — one-off action
These controls describe software features. The professional determines indication, pace and when to stop.
Is Social anxiety VR a fit for your patients?
Explore the catalogue with a free account. Review the controls, equipment and session activation in a 30-minute demo, with no headset needed.
No card required. Explore the catalogue and information screens. Clinical sessions require activation.
VRET is professional clinical-support software, not a certified medical device. Supervision, indication, and application remain the responsibility of the licensed clinician in charge.