阿凡達療法，是科學家受阿凡達的“化身”技術啟發，將虛擬現實用在抑郁癥治療上的一種新型技術。技術的關鍵是讓患者把一個虛擬的自己當成自己的“化身”，讓虛擬成人安慰自己，從而擺脫抑郁癥的困擾。

Patients wore a virtual reality headset to see from the perspective of a life-size 'avatar' or virtual body. Seeing this virtual body in a mirror moving in the same way as their own body typically produces the illusion that this is their own body. This is called 'embodiment'.
患者頭戴一個虛擬現實頭盔后， 可看到一個與自己大小一樣并動作同步的虛擬形象，會把這個形象看做自己的“化身”，以他/她的視角來看待外物。

While embodied in an adult avatar, participants were trained to express compassion towards a distressed virtual child.
在“化身”為成人阿凡達后，。研究人員讓患者通過這個“化身”安慰一個虛擬出來的悲傷男孩，

As they talked to the child it appeared to gradually stop crying and respond positively to the compassion.
在患者與這名男孩交談后，男孩逐漸不再哭泣，對安慰作出積極回應。

After a few minutes the patients were embodied in the virtual child and saw the adult avatar deliver their own compassionate words and gestures to them.
幾分鐘后，研究人員讓患者把這個虛擬男孩當做自己的“化身”，讓虛擬成人安慰虛擬男孩。

This brief eight-minute scenario was repeated three times at weekly intervals, and patients were followed up a month later. Of the 15 participants, nine reported reduced depressive symptoms a month after the therapy.
這個過程持續8分鐘，每星期重復3次。一個月后，9名患者癥狀減輕，其中4名顯著減輕。

Virtual reality has also previously been used to treat psychological disorders including phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder, but this research focused on a new application for promoting emotional well-being.
虛擬現實技術此前已被用于治療多種心理障礙，如恐懼癥、創傷后應激障礙等，但此次研究聚焦于改善患者心理健康這一新領域。

部分中文素材來自互動百科

（中國日報網英語點津 yaning）