Our research group has a program with virtual scenarios for the treatment of a non-toxic addiction, the pathological gambling.

One of them is a street where the patient can access several situations connected to gambling (a casino, a bingo hall and a bar) and containing several addictive marks. These scenarios are made to face the patient with exposure to stimuli that generate the urge to play, so that he/she can learn and practice skills and overcome the urge. Furthermore, there are other virtual environments that work as therapeutic tools and are used to provide and reflect on the harmful consequences of gambling.

Pilot study data are available with pre-and post-intervention information indicating that VR is a useful tool for the treatment of pathological gambling.  The impulse to gamble is activated in patients, and shows the effectiveness of the system to overcome it. In addition, it manages to reduce irrational beliefs related to the game situation.

Future job prospects in relation to this line of work are intended to conduct further controlled studies with information of follow-up. This way it may provide additional information about the system's suitability for psychological treatment of pathological gambling. It is a highly useful application for a problem that affects a significant number of people and creates a high interference both at a family and professional level.