Mental health in the metaverse

Just as this newsletter entered production, news broke that Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has seen nearly $2 billion in withdrawals over the past 24 hours and has temporarily paused withdrawals of the stablecoin USDC. That news comes as the industry at large is facing increasing scrutiny over its ability to satisfy customer withdrawals, as many users of the FTX exchange are still without their funds after its collapse.

As Meta burns through money building out the metaverse and crypto values falter, the promise of a vast virtual online world may feel like vaporware.

That is, unless you want to book a therapy session in cyberspace.

During the pandemic, tele-mental health took off like a rocket. Surveys show that more than half of people prefer to do therapy online versus in-person. That willingness to go online for mental health counseling has gotten folks at the cutting edge of healthcare thinking about how the metaverse can be used to treat a variety of ailments. Of particular interest? The social aspects of the technology.

“You can have the same sharing bond that you have in physical communities, but with the added value coming from the digital world and the sense of control the ability of self expression,” Giuseppe Riva, founder of the Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Laboratory at Istituto Auxologico in Italy, told Digital Future Daily.

Read more