Fear of police treatment with VR Exposure therapy

Where does fear of police come from?

There are literally many hundreds of fears and phobias. Some fears sound very strange, other fears everyone can imagine. If you have ever been in contact with the police, you might develop a fear after this. However, it must be said that this rarely happens. Not everyone encounters the police in a negative way and suffers a trauma as a result. Do you still have a fear of the police and is this affecting your life in some way? Then it is a good idea to seek help.

What is the cause of police fear?

It may be assumed that a natural fear of the police does not exist. In other words, fear of the police develops through trauma. Often, you have been in contact with the police. It is a logical responds that you are afraid of the police if you have a criminal record. When you see the police, you run away, because you are afraid you will have to pay or be punished. But the police do not only go after bandits, who are right to be afraid of the police. You can have been in an accident or experienced a robbery, where the police were called. In these cases, the police are trying to help, so there is no reason to be afraid. It is much more likely that you have been traumatised by the event itself, such as the accident or robbery. Because the police are the first on the scene, perhaps with sirens and flashing lights, which can also be frightening, the fear is projected onto the police.

A social phobia

The fear of the police may be similar to a social phobia. You are afraid of the public. Especially the fact of being ridiculed at a party or at a dinner party, but also speaking in public is a form of social phobia. The police often operate in public places and always attract a lot of attention. So you may be afraid of being arrested or spoken to by the police in public. In this case you have a form of social phobia.

Are there any symptoms of police fear?

Because fear of the police is not a specifically recognised type of fear or phobia, no specific symptoms are known. It can be assumed that the symptoms correspond to other types of fear. Think of heart palpitations, sweating, dry mouth and panic attacks when seeing or talking to police. If you experience symptoms when talking to the police, you certainly have something to explain. This could be 'suspicious' behaviour. You should investigate the underlying cause of police anxiety and seek treatment for it.

Treating police anxiety with EMDR therapy

Because fear of the police almost always stems from a trauma, EMDR is the best treatment method. During an EMDR treatment you are asked to think back to the trauma or to a certain police action. This is a confrontation you do not like and would prefer to avoid. Yet you have to do this, because recovery will start. The moment you remember the trauma, the therapist distracts you with a hand gesture that your eyes have to follow. At that moment you think less about the trauma or even not at all. If you repeat this, you will notice that it becomes easier to recall the trauma in your mind. Also the emotions you feel will be less impactful or even completely gone. This means that you have processed the trauma and your fear of the police will most likely disappear.

EMDR the modern way with Psylaris

As a developer of progressive innovations for the mental health care sector, Psylaris also has the EMDR therapy Some modern tools are used. Nowadays, virtual reality is a good way to give an EMDR treatment. This can be done in the treatment room, but also at the client's home. As a practitioner, you are always in control of what the client sees through the VR glasses and you have many more digital possibilities to distract. Psylaris has also developed a platform for the practitioner, which goes by the name of EMDR-remote.. With this convenient online platform, the client no longer needs to be present in the treatment room. You treat remotely with EMDR therapy. This can be done, for example, by video calling via the platform and the practitioner has many possibilities for digital distraction. The platform is safe to use and can be accessed simply using a web browser.

Exposure in virtual reality

The goal of Psylaris is to support therapists even better with better techniques and tools. Virtual reality plays a leading role in this. With EMDR-VR and EMDR-Plus an EMDR treatment is possible using virutal reality. The practitioner can use distraction tasks even better and the patient can also be treated remotely. Virtual reality is ideally suited for exposure therapy. Here the patient is confronted with his/her fears. It is no longer necessary to visit a physical location, such as a lift in case of lift fear or a shopping mall in case of agoraphobia. With the VR glasses on, the patient is confronted with the fear in the safe environment of the treatment room or his/her own home. Psylaris has developed a module for various types of fears that require exposure therapy. This saves costs and time, and the patient can be treated more frequently, which results in a faster recovery.

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