Scientists have developed a computer program that helps people with schizophrenia control auditory hallucinations.
Hallucinations that occur in a patient with schizophrenia make his behavior unpredictable, and this makes it very difficult to communicate with him. And so is the treatment. Researchers at the Wellcome Trust in the UK have developed a computer program that can help patients control auditory hallucinations*. The patient creates a computer avatar with a voice similar to the one that haunts him during his seizures. The virtual image is also given other features of an imaginary personality – intonation, typical phrases, accent … Communicating with the avatar (the psychologist acts in his “role”), the patient learns to control the illusion with the help of the will and reduces its power over himself. The game does not cure the disease, but helps to understand it, and therefore increases the chances of coping with it.
* For more information see wellcome.ac.uk