Meeting Oneself in the Virtual Reality Environment: A Single-Case Experimental Study Investigating Effects on Mood, Meaning, and Self-Compassion in Adults with Depressive Symptoms

The sense of self plays an important role in psychological well-being and it is often targeted by perspective-taking interventions in psychological treatments. The present study investigated the effects of a virtual reality (VR) intervention in which participants got to see themselves from an outside perspective while their relating to self was assessed. A single-case experimental design was applied with participants ( N = 7) having depressive symptoms. Changes in mood, sense of meaning, and self-compassion were assessed by daily surveys 7–10 days before and 9 days after the VR intervention. In addition, participants’ self-ratings of wellbeing and experience of the VR intervention were investigated. The perspective-taking approach in combination with VR was experienced as meaningful with great impact and appeared to positively influence mood, sense of meaning, and/or self-compassion for some participants. These findings suggest that the VR intervention has the potential to be a beneficial tool in psychological treatments for depression.