Background: Flight phobia is a common and debilitating specific phobia. Recently, an effective technology, called Virtual Reality (VR), has been developed for the treatment of various anxiety disorders including flight phobia.
Method: This article reports the results of a pilot study consisting of four subjects treated for Flight Phobia using Virtual Reality.
Results: All four subjects flew post-treatment. They experienced a significant reduction in fear of flying on two measures--anxiety about flying and global rating of fear of flying.
Limitations: due to the small sample size, the lack of a control group, and the lack of objective measures, caution must be exercised in interpreting the results.
Conclusions: The use of Virtual Reality psychotherapy is relatively new worldwide, as well as in Israel. This study suggests the utility of implementing this technology in Israel.