{"id":163410,"date":"2024-10-28T21:47:06","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T21:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/28\/digital-avatars-could-help-people-suffering-with-psychosis-stand-up-to-distressing-voices-and-find-peace-study-finds\/"},"modified":"2024-10-28T21:47:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T21:47:06","slug":"digital-avatars-could-help-people-suffering-with-psychosis-stand-up-to-distressing-voices-and-find-peace-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/28\/digital-avatars-could-help-people-suffering-with-psychosis-stand-up-to-distressing-voices-and-find-peace-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital avatars could help people suffering with psychosis stand up to distressing voices and find peace, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Digital<\/div>


\n<\/p>\n

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People who hear bullying or abusive voices could find peace with the help of therapy using computer-generated avatars, according to new research.<\/p>\n

The digital animations are created by people with psychosis to fit the voices they hear.<\/p>\n

They then role-play with the avatar under the guidance of a therapist, learning to push back against their tormentor.<\/p>\n

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\n
<\/div>
\n Image:<\/span>
\n The avatars are used in role-play for therapy
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\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

A study by clinical psychologists at Kings College London (KCL) shows just a few sessions of avatar therapy reduces both the distress and frequency of the voices.<\/p>\n

Ruth spent more than five years in hospital because of her illness.<\/p>\n

But after therapy with an avatar that she created, she’s now married and about to start a new job.<\/p>\n

“When I hear the voices, I hear them as if they’re standing right behind me, hissing in my ear, making remarks,” she told Sky News.<\/p>\n

She continued: “Sometimes they do a running commentary of everything I’m doing.<\/p>\n

“And other times it’s like they are screaming and yelling directly into my ear. It can be exhausting.<\/p>\n

“When I first started with the avatar it was pretty brutal at times, the stuff it would say.<\/p>\n

“But over time, I learned that I could overpower that voice.”<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n \"Ruth\n <\/div>
\n Image:<\/span>
\n Ruth spent over five years in hospital because of her illness but she’s now married and about to start a new job
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

‘Face to face’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Therapy begins with people creating a digital avatar to represent the voices they hear.<\/p>\n

They first select the right vocal sound for the avatar.<\/p>\n

Then, in a process similar to building a police identikit image of a suspect, they choose facial features to create an image that fits the voice they hear.<\/p>\n

During therapy, they have a conversation with the avatar, which is under the control of a clinical psychologist, learning to stand up to the distressing voices.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n \"Digitally\n <\/div>
\n Image:<\/span>
\n Digitally animated avatars are created by people with psychosis to help them stand up to the distressing voices
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Read more from Sky News:
Video shows ‘face-off’ before MP punches man<\/a>
UNRWA banned from Israel<\/a>
Man Utd line up new manager<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr Tom Ward, a clinical psychologist at KCL, said: “It’s typically a very powerful experience for the person.<\/p>\n

“The voice is something that they might have been avoiding for many years, and they’re coming face to face with it so people can be understandably anxious.<\/p>\n

“The job of the therapist is to make sure that it feels safe enough for them to interact with the avatar.”<\/p>\n

‘Extremely important finding’<\/strong><\/p>\n

A study on 345 people, funded by the Wellcome Trust and published in the journal Nature, showed avatar therapy helped to push the voices into the background, allowing them to resume a more normal life.<\/p>\n

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Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News<\/p>\n

Tap here<\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Professor Philippa Garety, the lead researcher, said it was the first therapy shown to have a sustained impact on how often people hear voices.<\/p>\n

“This is an extremely important finding,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Hearing fewer voices, less often, or voices going away altogether can have a hugely positive impact on their day-to-day lives.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

NICE, the authority that regulates treatments on the NHS, has backed the therapy.<\/p>\n

It will now be rolled out to clinics in England for more real-world testing.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People who hear bullying or abusive voices could find peace with the help of therapy using computer-generated avatars, according to new research. The digital animations are created by people with psychosis to fit the voices they hear. They then role-play with the avatar under the guidance of a therapist, learning to push back against their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/10\/768x432\/skynews-avatar-mental-health_6731513.png?20241028201240","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[607],"tags":[18049,247,127065,3402,2302,3166,124,127064,1172,250,4247,18840],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163410"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163412,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163410\/revisions\/163412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}