Specialized programs utilizing VR can reduce the severity of PTSD, that does not mean all VR games reduce the chance of developing.

Especially as compared to a non VR game, which would probably have far less chance of developing

Compared to what?

War obviously.

Kidding aside, it does seem like VR probably has value as a kind of exposure therapy..

Or to put it another way it desensitizes people to violence.

It can. And if you're the victim of violence, that may be desirable.

Likewise, if you have a fear of spiders bad enough that it interferes with your quality of life, you likely want to be desensitized to spiders.

VR therapy for fear of spiders made the news [1] a few years ago, so it's quite possible there's been more (professional?) progress in the field.

[1] https://money.cnn.com/2016/10/16/technology/fearless-vr-spid...

I wonder how far that could go. If you had people play as spiders could you get people to actually sympathize with spiders?

If it were part of a designed and controlled therapeutic program maybe.

But a regular and 'by design' aspect of a game, presumably online?

Dunno if I, as an arachnophobe who plays plenty of games online-trust griefers not to ....well grief with that kind of power, heh.

Well, I was thinking something like a single-player game where you are the spider and, through the course of whatever the gameplay entails, you struggle as a spider to stay alive. This could perhaps build empathy for spiders and cause people to think twice before casually killing one. So beyond conquering arachnophobia, what if we can give people a positive affinity towards spiders?

A multi-player spider game sounds potentially terrifying.

I read a while ago in an article from the APA that soldiers who completed VR simulations of trauma were better able to handle stressful situations.

Real headcrabs, probably

Source?

[The efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy for PTSD symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01650...)

I see no mention of VR Games. I am fairly certain the ` well-controlled sensory stimuli` does not cover the latest shooter from the video game industry.

I would agree that VR can help with PTSD, but only in the same way as drugs can help with disease. Doesn't mean to say that drugs don't also cause huge problems.

The devil, as always, is in the details and life is not simple.