To begin this project, I conducted secondary research, going through peer-reviewed research papers and articles, to gain a better understanding of phobias to try and reduce their severity via a Virtual exposure therapy session.

During my primary research, I interviewed students of psychology at Amity University, as well as Dr. Akhil Chopra, a psychiatrist from Dehradun, to understand their opinions of VR assisted therapy as well as the shortcomings that I may have to overcome.

I was informed by them that attempting to treat phobias in an unmonitored virtual environment may cause the patient to have potentially violent reactions and may lead to harm.

With this knowledge & some recommendations from the interviewees, I switched my focus of disorder to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

I then conducted secondary research about OCD and the possible ways to reduce its severity.

I learned about a concept in psychology called Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and a specific branch of it called Exposure Therapy.

In Exposure Therapy, the goal is to help the patient become more comfortable with the situation, and to learn coping strategies to manage their symptoms.

All my research into OCD and Exposure therapy, along with information about the interviews can be found at this Notion site.