What Are the Ethical Issues Surrounding Extended Reality in Mental Health?

Extended reality’s growing role in mental healthcare raises key ethical challenges. This review maps concerns around safety, autonomy, data privacy, clinician responsibility, and equity, highlighting gaps needing guidance for responsible clinical use.

Educational Objectives

Educational Aim:

To equip health professionals with a comprehensive understanding of the ethical challenges associated with using extended reality (XR) technologies in mental healthcare, enabling them to recognise risks, uphold ethical practice, and contribute to safe, equitable, and patient‑centred implementation.

Educational Outcomes:
Upon completion of this module practitioners should have a clear understanding of:

1. The core ethical principles relevant to XR use in mental health, including autonomy, beneficence, non‑maleficence, and justice.
2. How XR technologies such as VR, AR, avatars, and virtual agents are being integrated into psychiatric assessment and treatment.
3. Key patient‑safety concerns, including cybersickness, symptom exacerbation, dissociation, and risks for vulnerable populations.
4. How XR environments may influence autonomy through altered reality, information asymmetry, or deceptive virtual interactions.

Instructions for this Module

• Read the supplied reading material and complete the quiz that follows;
• You have three attempts to pass the quiz;
• The pass grade is 70%;
• You need to pass the quiz to claim your CPD certificate;
• Please click on the CPD certificate link below to claim your CPD certificate and to update your CPD Manager.

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