Cape Town - More than 120 former drug addicts have recovered thanks to virtual reality sessions which now forms part of the programme of a rehabilitation facility.
The Sultan Bahu Drug Treatment Centre has partnered with Linden Lab, also known as Second Life, to use 3D virtual reality therapy to treat addicts.
They are offering a two-year programme utilising 15 computers where patients become avatars, and allowing them to create a healthy setting for healing and recovery.
The patients are taken into a virtual world where they are able to do horse-riding, canoeing, surfing, meditating, Tai Chi and other activities, guided by counsellors and social workers.
Their Bellville office is the first rehabilitation centre which is funded by the Department of Social Development that has a virtual reality programme.
The Sultan Bahu Drug Treatment Centre also has a facility in Hanover Park and Mitchell’s Plain.
Director, Shafiek Davids has been in the industry for nearly 20 years and utilised his skills to help drug addicts.
Inside the virtual rooms, patients can choose their own names and characters where they are taught to come face to face with their challenges, communication skills, lack of discipline, confidence or anger issues.
Davids said the virtual reality project had helped 120 people so far.
Many of their patients are former gang members or drug addicts who found themselves on the streets and later in shelters.
He said the virtual rooms took people out of these negative environments.
“One of the exciting things of this project is, when one speaks about substance abuse, there is always doom and gloom,” he said.
“What we have done in this, it is an awesome innovation, where we have taken our best practice model and even during the pandemic we saw the exact number of patients we were funded for. That is the drive the team has had for the past 17 years.
He said when Covid-19 started they were forced to find innovative ways to treat patients.
“Treatments are always given in areas where the environment is not conducive, you have a world class programme but we find that clients are in areas where the gunshots are going off. The treatment environment is not conducive for recovery. Our people are poor, it does not mean you need to give them poor service.”
He added that the VR therapy was an effective component of therapy.
“It is the message of hope now. I had a client who remained quiet in the virtual world and I eventually asked him why he was not speaking, it was merely because he had seen himself looking good and they have been there before and it showed them that they can achieve that again.”
Additionally, the use of computers taught people to become literate and even helped some to read.
”If you are not computer literate, we will teach you, they said it will be our biggest challenge but I said it will be our biggest benefit.”
For patient Thurlow Abasolom, 35, the programme has even helped him reunit and heal his relationship with his family.
“I had broken away from my family after being on drugs and part of a gang,” he said.
“I did bad things before and look here now I am riding horses. Now I am starting to talk with my father again.”
Another patient, who asked not to be identified, said: “I have grown so much and I never felt this way before about the programme, I cannot wait to be here every day.”
Weekend Argus