Chakrabarti S. Metaverse for mental health disorders: Opportunities and challenges. World J Clin Cases 2025; 13(4): 97813 [DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i4.97813]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Subho Chakrabarti, MD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, 12 Sector, Chandigarh 160012, UT, India. subhochd@yahoo.com
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Feb 6, 2025; 13(4): 97813 Published online Feb 6, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i4.97813
Metaverse for mental health disorders: Opportunities and challenges
Subho Chakrabarti
Subho Chakrabarti, Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, UT, India
Author contributions: Chakrabarti S is the sole author of this manuscript; Chakrabarti S decided the theme of the manuscript, performed the literature search, and drafted the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Dr. Chakrabarti has nothing to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Subho Chakrabarti, MD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, 12 Sector, Chandigarh 160012, UT, India. subhochd@yahoo.com
Received: June 9, 2024 Revised: September 18, 2024 Accepted: November 1, 2024 Published online: February 6, 2025 Processing time: 158 Days and 13.4 Hours
Abstract
Several articles on the mental health impact of the metaverse and the need to balance its potential benefits with the risks of metaverse use has recently published. The metaverse consists of a combination of immersive technologies and artificial intelligence algorithms. The metaverse differs from the preceding digital psychiatric interventions due to its complex structure and interactions between components. The diverse functions of the metaverse ensure that it may have a substantial impact on mental health. However, the evidence for its efficacy in treating mental health disorders is limited to a few trials. The mental health benefits of immersive technologies are well-documented and suggest that metaverse-based psychiatric treatment may be similarly efficacious. The mental health risks of the metaverse are largely unknown, and it is not clear whether they will be greater than other digital psychiatric interventions. Much more research is needed to determine whether metaverse-based psychiatric treatment will meet the standards of appropriate mental healthcare.
Core Tip: The metaverse is a complex digital technology with diverse functions. It differs from other digital psychiatric interventions because of its distinctive features. The unique features of the metaverse suggest that it can have a substantial impact on mental health. However, the evidence for its efficacy in treating psychiatric disorders is limited, and the potential mental health risks of the metaverse are unknown. Further research is needed to define the role of metaverse-based interventions in mental healthcare.
