Researchers have developed an ingenious new approach to treating psychosis: creating an “avatar” for the often upsetting voices in the head and talking to them as if they were real, living people.

As The guardian reportsnumerous clinical trials have demonstrated the power of this so-called “avatar therapy.” For example, a new article in the newspaper Natural medicine demonstrates that giving a voice and a face to the dark forces in the heads of people who suffer from auditory hallucinations may be a promising treatment strategy.

Like customizing a character in a video game, people who undergo this experimental treatment create digital avatars that resemble or symbolize the voices they hear. Some people are criticized by cruel authority figures and others are threatened by demons – and by creating an externalized avatar on a screen and having a therapist simulate what they say, these persecuting voices can often be controlled.

It’s a deceptively simple diagram that has again and again confirmed promising results. These digitally assisted interventions not only help people who hear voices in their heads feel calmer and less suicidal – a common comorbidity with schizophrenia And psychosis – but in some cases even makes the vocals disappear completely.

Initially conceptualized by the the famous British psychiatrist Julian Leffa schizophrenia specialist who died in 2021the name of the therapy is apparently a bit of a misnomer.

“It’s called avatar therapy, and it seems to be mostly about visual representation, but not everyone has an existing image that goes with their voice,” Neil Thomas, director of the Voices Clinic, explained to Melbourne, Australia and principal investigator of this study. country avatar therapy trial. “I think the auditory transformation is particularly powerful.”

This was certainly the case for Claire, one of the participants in the Avatar 2 UK Trialwho said The guardian that before registering, she had been hearing voices for over 40 years.

As an abused child, Claire said the first voice she heard was a man telling her to jump out of a window when she was 10 years old. Decades and numerous suicide attempts and hospitalizations later, she began practicing avatar therapy.

Although she feared the treatment would worsen her psychosis, after four out of 12 sessions, she found that the voices had completely disappeared.

“My goal was not to get rid of them, just to get along with them,” Claire told the newspaper. “I wasn’t really sure I wanted to let go. I’d never really been alone. As abusive as it can be, it’s still a relationship.”

While researchers in the United Kingdom, AustraliaAnd Denmark continue their research on treatment, the Americans seem to be left behind. As STATUS News reportsAmericans seeking avatar therapy may still have to wait years to get it on this side of the Atlantic.

Learn more about schizophrenia: Scientists claim to have traced the voices heard by people with schizophrenia