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Putting on a virtual reality headset to experience a short virtual reality experience could be the key to allaying your fears.  So say sleep scientists at Texas A&M University in a report of their pilot study in Frontiers in Virtual Reality. 

They studied 61 young adults who donned Oculus Quest 2 units and watched scenes inspired by commonly reported near-death experiences including an out-of-body sensation following a car accident, traveling through a tunnel of light with memory flashbacks, and arriving at a calm, scenic landscape that symbolizes a boundary between life and death.

The data demonstrated that participants experienced an average 75% drop in death anxiety after a single 12-minute VR session. Most participants reported feeling calmer afterward and said the experience prompted reflection on life priorities and relationships. A small number, however, reported increased stress or anxiety.

Larger studies are on the drawing board to determine if VR could help people with depression, anxiety, or terminal illness cope with fear of death.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-virtual-reality-anxiety-death.html

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/virtual-reality/articles/10.3389/frvir.2025.1644131/full

#death #anxiety #vr #fear