Picture this: a mental healthcare professional is trying to treat eight patients back-to-back in a small clinic, relying on imagined scenarios to help them navigate their worst triggers and experiences. Fatigue is mounting, and progress feels slow – for both the patients and the clinician.
This is a familiar story for many in India – whether it’s a young teen with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) struggling to focus, or a person struggling to overcome their substance dependence, or an individual with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) battling relentless compulsions. In India, relapse rates for substance abuse disorders alone can climb as high as 75% within three to 26 weeks of treatment, underscoring a glaring gap in the existing mental healthcare infrastructure.
An innovative solution is the need of the hour to plug that gap – and Social Alpha is pleased to announce its support for an emerging paradigm-shifting solution that reimagines mental health treatment. Founded in 2022, Wundrsight is a virtual reality (VR) platform that equips clinicians with immersive tools and tailored interventions to bridge care gaps. These offer better, more relatable care options to patients across a spectrum of complex mental health challenges, ranging from substance abuse disorders and phobias to OCD and ADHD.
The Missing Puzzle Piece
In India today, the mental healthcare infrastructure rests on three primary approaches – the biomedical model, which employs medicine to target biochemical abnormalities; the psychosocial approach, which addresses behavioural and emotional challenges through therapy and counselling; and community-led interventions, which provide peer support using local resources. Together, they form the arsenal of care for millions, and will continue to remain vital in treating mental health disorders.
However, they often fall short in delivering end-to-end care, when used on their own or in combination. Biomedical interventions overlook the psychological roots of disease, psychosocial methods are dependent on consistent access to trained professionals, and community-led efforts can struggle with scalability and adherence to care. What’s missing is a tool that complements and enhances these approaches, and bridges the divide between individual treatment modalities and real-world outcomes.
Wundrsight’s VR platform promises to be the missing piece in the puzzle. Through realistic, graded simulations of high-risk situations, Wundrsight’s cutting-edge technology can not only empower patients to confront and manage their most challenging triggers in a safe, controlled environment, but also provide care in the remotest regions, enabling access to quality care to underserved communities.
From Virtual Reality to Real Life
Based on a technique called Cue Exposure Therapy (CET), Wundrsight’s customised VR modules are designed to augment pre-existing treatment plans with an immersive, multi-sensory experience. In traditional CET, patients are gradually exposed to triggers or cravings in a controlled environment. While the technique has demonstrated some effectiveness, it relies on imagined or verbal scenarios which often fall short of replicating the emotional intensity of real-world settings, thereby significantly limiting its impact.
But with Wundrsight’s VR headset, patients are transported to life-like scenarios which encourage realistic responses, ensuring that the therapy is immediately transferrable to real life.
Take, for example, a patient in rehab struggling to overcome a dependency on alcohol. Despite taking medication and receiving regular counselling, the patient may repeatedly relapse. With the introduction of Wundrsight’s VR product, however, the patient’s treatment plan gains a powerful, immersive component, simulating high-risk scenarios such as attending a party where alcohol is available, or experiencing social pressure from peers. Through these audio-visual cues, the patient now has an authentic yet safe practice ground to develop lasting, effective coping strategies.
Better Access, Better Outcomes, Better Lives
VR solutions also hold potential to transform mental healthcare for patients in underserved areas. A patient struggling with a substance abuse disorder residing in a small town, for example, is forced to spend an exorbitant amount of time and money to travel to a bigger city for counselling. If his local clinic, however, is equipped with Wundrsight’s VR headset, not only can the patient reduce expenses and save on time, but can now practice coping strategies closer to home, where the tendency to relapse is the highest.
The platform also comes equipped with graded difficulty levels, ranging from mild triggers to high-risk simulations. For patients struggling with complex disorders, mastering each level presents a deep sense of victory, ultimately helping with patient retention and increasing compliance.
Wundrsight’s technology is especially unique in how it benefits both the clinician and the patient. Trained professionals often grapple with client overload and slow progress, leading to reduced professional efficacy and burnout. With VR modules, clinicians no longer need to rely on printed images, dummy tools or imagined scenarios. Non-specialists or junior mental healthcare professionals can also administer the session, enabling senior care providers to instead monitor patients’ real-time responses to simulations, while also gaining a window of time to recharge. By streamlining an oversaturated system, Wundrsight allows clinicians to take on more patients, thereby improving the capacity of India’s mental healthcare infrastructure.
VR therapy may also lower treatment costs in the longer run and eventually reduce out-of-pocket expenses. Yes, VR headsets are relatively expensive at present – but when deployed in clinics where they can serve multiple patients a day, the cost over the care pathway reduces significantly. The end goal of integrating VR therapy into clinical practice is to push an outcome where patients recover faster, clinicians take on more cases, and the community saves resources.
VR Solutions for Diverse Mental Health Journeys
Wundrsight’s module for substance use disorders replicates cravings/triggers over 10 sessions, reducing the risk of relapse through gradual exposure. Another module provides controlled virtual exposure to phobic triggers, helping patients develop resilience without real-world risk. The start-up also offers modules for patients managing OCD, recreating personalised scenarios to help manage compulsive behaviours. Other modules support those with ADHD and autism by improving attention through interactive tasks and enhancing social skills through simulated conversations and group interactions.
The platform also has programs to help people manage their everyday wellness by channeling stress and anger into safe, controlled virtual environments. VR sessions for relaxation offer guided breathing and visualisation exercises for stress relief.
Wundrsight’s VR solutions have already been piloted in hospitals specializing in mental health and substance-use rehabilitation. The platform has demonstrated tangible benefits, with patients reporting increased motivation to adhere to treatment protocols, while clinicians benefit from reduced workload. The clinically relevant content has been particularly well-received, leading to plans for broader adoption, like modules for those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Turning Dreams into (Virtual) Reality
Wundrsight is the brainchild of Raunak Swarnkar and Nishtha Budhiraja – two individuals deeply connected to the mission of transforming mental healthcare.
Nishtha, the co-founder and Chief Medical Officer, has over eight years’ experience as a psychologist in India and the UK. Her hands-on clinical expertise and ability to integrate VR therapy into treatment plans have been instrumental in establishing Wundrsight’s credibility within the healthcare sector.
Raunak, the co-founder and CEO, blends a background in cognitive neuroscience with product development expertise. With a proven track record of building AI/ML-driven solutions in the B2B SaaS space, he brings both innovation and scalability to Wundrsight.
Charting The Way Ahead
Wundrsight is advancing on its journey towards commercialising its platform by focusing on clinical trials to build a responsible product and secure essential regulatory certifications, including SaMD (Software as a Medical Device) and FDA approval. The company has also been partnering with leading institutions to raise awareness about the potential of VR therapy and develop training programs to drive adoption.
Social Alpha’s patient capital plays a pivotal role in this journey. By investing at the pilot stage, Social Alpha is helping de-risk the early phases of Wundrsight’s development, offering financial flexibility and support for refining models, conducting trials, and scaling impact. This partnership enables Wundrsight to focus on long-term growth and its mission to transform the mental health landscape.
-Written by Manaswini Pai, Social Alpha