A virtual reality intervention to reduce death anxiety and stress in adults: examining the effect of a near-death experience simulation
Frontiers in Virtual Reality September 29, 2025 Parya Khandan, Benjamin Ennemoser, Ryan D. Foster et al.
A virtual reality simulation of a near-death experience significantly reduced death anxiety and stress in 61 adults who experienced a first-person immersive VR scenario. Participants were randomly assigned to either a narrated or non-narrated version, and both groups showed similar reductions in death anxiety and stress from before to after the intervention. The findings suggest that VR can serve as a scalable tool for psychological interventions, helping people confront mortality-related fears and potentially fostering behavioral changes like reduced avoidance of death-related thoughts and greater resilience.