Phobia

Lifestyle

Origins of clown phobia are not what you might expect, study shows

Pennywise, Twisty, Wrinkles, Bozo, Krusty and Ronald McDonald. What do these names have in common? They're all clowns, and, to some people, they're terrifying. A new study has examined the widespread phenomenon of clown phobia to determine how it begins.

This is the first treatment that removes the need for a real-life therapist to guide a subject through sessions

Virtual Reality

VR therapist helps patients overcome fear of heights in Oxford study

A new study has used a VR-based treatment to help people overcome a fear of heights. The treatment is the first to demonstrate the effectiveness of a completely automated therapy guided by a computer-generated virtual therapist that responds to the patient's voice.

Virtual Reality

VR app helps prepare children for MRI

An MRI physicist at King's College Hospital in London has spearheaded a virtual reality app to help soothe children's fears about receiving an MRI. The "My MRI at King's" app is specially designed to walk children through the MRI process, which can be off-putting for first-timers of all ages.