Immersive virtual reality: distinct impact on altered states of consciousness

Abstract

As mental health challenges continue to rise, there is increasing interest in interventions that promote psychological change through emotionally and experientially rich states. One well-studied example involves mystical-type experiences, typically reported in psychedelic-assisted interventions. Virtual reality (VR), with its immersive and embodied qualities, has emerged as a promising non-pharmacological medium for eliciting phenomenologically similar states. This study investigated the medium-specific contribution of VR to such altered states of consciousness. In a controlled experiment, 70 participants viewed the same emotionally evocative short film either via an immersive VR headset or on a standard computer screen. Responses on the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30) indicated significantly higher scores across all dimensions in the VR group. These results highlight VR’s potential as a tool for evoking transformative experiences and suggest that immersive technologies may not merely transmit content but actively shape emotional and cognitive processes.