Anticipation and prevention of real risks of virtual environments in psychiatry

Maria Marloth; Celia Deane-Drummond; Philipp Kellmeyer; Marc Erich Latoschik; Jennifer A. Chandler; Gerben Meynen; Kai Vogeley

doi:10.1038/s41746-026-02348-4

Anticipation and prevention of real risks of virtual environments in psychiatry

Maria Marloth
, Celia Deane-Drummond
, Philipp Kellmeyer
, Marc Erich Latoschik
, Jennifer A. Chandler
, Gerben Meynen
, Kai Vogeley^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Moral and Political Philosophy

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Extended reality (=XR) provides promising opportunities for psychiatry in the future. However, psychiatric patients appear to be particularly vulnerable to virtual exposure. With a focus on virtual embodiment and virtual social interaction, we therefore, 1. describe the specific risks of virtual exposures, 2. discuss them in relation to specific psychopathological symptoms and 3. outline initial strategies that enable safe exposure with a strong emphasis on participatory designs.

Original language	English
Article number	164
Pages (from-to)	1-8
Number of pages	8
Journal	npj Digital Medicine
Volume	9
Issue number	1
Early online date	30 Jan 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-026-02348-4
Publication status	Published - 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2026.

Funding

The work was supported by the grant 01GP2215 asigned to KV (German Ministery of Research and Education, BMBF). All authors declare no financial or non-financial competing interests.

Funders
Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt

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AU - Vogeley, Kai

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Anticipation and prevention of real risks of virtual environments in psychiatry

Abstract

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