Treatment of body image disturbances in eating disorders by means of virtual reality: a case report

The purpose of the present study was to analyze in detail the results of the standard cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) followed by a Virtual Reality (VR) application for Body Image disturbances (BI) in a patient with anorexia nervosa. The participant fulfilled several instruments evaluating BI, eating psychopathology and secondary psychopathology. The treatment for BI disturbances consisted in the successive application of two components (CBT plus VR). After the completion of each component the participant fulfilled again the assessment questionnaires and she did it again one year after the end of the treatment. After the completion of the two treatment components, the patient improved, not only her BI, but also there was a significant improvement regarding eating psychopathology and secondary psychopathology. The outcomes achieved with the treatment were maintained and even enhanced at one-year follow-up. Restoration of weight and eating behavior does not guarantee a total recovery of the eating disorder where BI disturbance is present. On the contrary, this disturbance needs to be treated specifically. Besides, results indicated that the VR component not only enhanced the effectiveness of the CBT component, but also the patient’s progressive improvement started when the VR component was introduced.