Mexican Researchers and Students Create “Vaccine Against Loneliness” to Combat Psychosocial Disorders During Pandemic

In Mexico, researchers and students pooled their knowledge to offer society a technological option to overcome psychosocial disorders: the so-called ‘vaccine against loneliness’.

One of the titular creators, Dr. Luis Alberto Morales Hernandezcoordinator of the Electromechanical Engineering career of the Autonomous University of Queretaro (UAQ), explained in an interview for RT that approximately 10 years ago they began working on a device that could measure a person’s moods.

However, with the recent health crisis, the project took a turn and became a virtual reality viewer with which, in addition to detecting their emotions, users will be able to enter hyperreal environments that will help them, with the support of specialists in mental health, to have the confidence to be able to function as they did before confinement.

“We named it the ‘vaccine against loneliness’ because apparently we no longer lived in society, but alone,” highlights the academic, who details that although there were people who resumed their normal activities after the pandemic, others have not. could.How it works

The vaccine works with a viewer, a mobile phone, a reader of QR and a test –which is previously carried out by a psychologist– with which the most suitable environment for treatment is determined.

The device captures, among other things, heart rate and temperature. “If we can get them to improve from the first session, we know that it will work in the long term, if not, we change the environment,” Morales Hernández clarifies.

virtual reality | Mexican University created a “vaccine against loneliness” to address mental health. The immersive reality application places users in different hyperreal scenarios, stimulating vision and hearing through positive situations. pic.twitter.com/RlOYDeMTBi
— La Tercera Video (@LaTerceraTV) April 11, 2023

In total there are eight sessions, but the experience so far has shown the creative team that from the fourth the user has a significant improvement and is beginning to control their emotions.

According to the professor, emphasis has been placed on specialists first mastering the treatment, to later put it at the service of society.

hyperreal environments

Luis Alberto Morales Hernández defines the environments with which the virtual reality viewer works as those spaces that help give the strength to go out into the outside world.

“Normally they tell you ‘close your eyes and start imagining’, but here it is simply starting to explore this virtual environment and it manages to capture us immersively,” he explains.

For example, adult users can visit hyperreal places where they first find few people and progressively join more, with the aim of reducing or removing the anguish that currently causes many people to go out and be in the middle of the hustle and bustle, because they already they are not used to

“It is to help them little by little to know what their body is feeling and how to control it”, emphasizes the specialist.

Other environments, he narrates, are built with objects or situations that could mean memories for people, something with which they feel identified and that can help alleviate some psychosocial condition.

Likewise, there are places for children where they are given the confidence they need to feel integrated, since according to the researcher, the pandemic left many of them afraid of going out and interacting with other peers of their age, for fear of contracting the disease. covid-19.

The creative team

The vaccine against loneliness involves areas such as architecture, mechatronics and psychology.

“It was quite a challenge, however, we were clear about the objective, which was to use what we now call the metaverse to be able to provide care for psychosocial conditions,” says Morales Hernández.

In addition to research professors from the UAQ, specialists from the University of Colima, the Metropolitan Autonomous University, as well as the National Autonomous University of Mexico are involved in the project.

_{One of the hyper-realistic environments of the solution}

The National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt) has also provided resources to buy equipment and grant scholarships to students who participate in the development of the device.

For now, the vaccine is being tested in the community at the Autonomous University of Querétaro, but soon it will be tested with breast cancer survivors and in a psychological care center in Mexico City. Depression in Mexico and the world

According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), depression “is a disease characterized by persistent sadness and loss of interest in activities that are normally enjoyed, as well as the inability to carry out carry out daily activities, for at least two weeks.

Some of the symptoms of the disease are loss of energy, changes in appetite and sleep schedules, anxiety, decreased concentration, indecisiveness, restlessness, feelings of worthlessness, guilt or hopelessness, and thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

Globally, data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that depression affects 3.8% of the population, including 5% of adults and 5.7% of adults over 60 years of age. This means that approximately 280 million people suffer from the disease, indicated ActualidadRT.