Unreal that feels real: artificial intelligence-enhanced augmented reality for treating social and occupational dysfunction in post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorders

Fear- and trauma-related conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social phobia, often manifest as socially avoidant behaviours, which commonly contribute to social and occupational disability transdiagnostically. While gold-standard treatments (i.e. exposure therapy, psychotropic medications) are effective, they are hindered by high dropout rates and limited impact on real-world functioning. Furthermore, most existing interventions only target symptom reduction, with few addressing avoidance-related deficits in social and occupational functioning.