VA Adds Virtual Reality to Veterans Mental Health Care

Veterans now have a new tool for mental health treatment during routine medical visits, and it is virtual reality. Primary care providers across the Department of Veterans Affairs are using immersive VR to help veterans manage stress, reduce anxiety, and cope with pain.

How VR Fits Into Care

VA providers use VR to create immersive environments to encourage relaxation and distract from pain. They do this through controlled exposure to stress-inducing situations in a safe and supervised setting. 

For instance, in one session, a veteran meets with his primary care provider to discuss how anxiety affects his blood pressure. Instead of only adjusting medication, the provider suggests a guided VR session to promote calm breathing. Wearing the headset, the veteran learns to slow his breathing and refocus. For veterans, it’s a chance to reset his nervous system. It’s similar to sound therapy, but with a visual component added.

Mental Health and Whole Health

The effort is part of the VA’s Whole Health approach, which treats physical and mental well-being together. Stress and anxiety can affect sleep, blood pressure, and chronic pain, so building skills to manage them supports the whole person. 

Similar to telehealth and digital apps, this technology allows patients to receive care without leaving their homes. One provider in the video noted that combining VR with traditional care leads to stronger patient engagement. Indeed, VR doesn’t replace medication or therapy. It adds another layer of support that some veterans can carry home.

This Matters for Dual Diagnoses

A dual diagnosis, or co-occurring disorder, is when a mental health condition and a substance use disorder occur at the same time. Veterans may face co-occurring conditions such as PTSD during the holidays, anxiety, depression, or substance use. Integrated treatment that addresses both the mental health condition and any substance use together tends to work better than treating each separately.

Behavioral health care increasingly blends digital tools with proven therapies and medication assisted treatment. For many veterans, mental health challenges don’t occur in isolation, which is why comprehensive, coordinated treatment matters.

Find Comprehensive Treatment

Many centers now promote confidential services designed specifically for veterans. Evidence-based therapies like cognitive behavioral counseling and trauma-focused therapy, along with medication management, remain the foundation of care with tools like VR adding support. 

To find mental health treatment centers that treat co-occurring conditions, call 800-908-4823 (Sponsored) . Browsing our directory also allows you to find programs organized by location. Veterans experiencing a crisis can directly reach the Veterans Crisis Line by dialing 988 and then press 1.

Author

Courtney Myers, MS

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Courtney Myers has more than 15 years of experience in online writing and editing. Since graduating from N.C. State University with an MS in Technical Communication, she’s helped clients improve their visibility and reach through expert-level content creation. She specializes in addiction recovery and behavioral healthcare topics.

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Peter Lee, PhD

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Peter W.Y. Lee is a writer and historian of American history during the Cold War. His primary focus is the relationship between youth and popular culture and its impact on U.S. society during the twentieth century. He has published widely on how the public has used popular culture as a mechanism to address political and social shifts throughout time