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VR and Metaverse Technology are the Answers to the Biggest Current Gap in Substance Use Disorder Treatment

By Robert Bell, Special to California Business Journal

Current rates of substance abuse and addiction in the United States are shocking.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reported that 19.7 million Americans 12 and older dealt with substance use disorder in 2017. One in eight Americans had a problem with alcohol use disorder.

Of all the people with substance use disorder, 74 percent simultaneously suffered from alcohol use disorder.

In that year, 8.5 million American adults suffered from a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder at the same time.

Even divorced from empathy and focused solely on practical infrastructure concerns, drug abuse and addiction cost America over $740 billion annually in productivity, healthcare, and crime. That’s a number even the most sanguine can appreciate as bad for America and Americans.

I believe compassion is an inevitable side effect of working with and for people suffering from addiction issues. Easily the largest roadblock to successful, sustained recovery is losing a 24/7 support system after in-patient rehabilitation experiences.

The key to success is creating consistent, round-the-clock access to treatment resources and tools; one way to keep people on target is to meet them where they live. In 2023 and forevermore, that means meeting them online.

In a recent survey by The NPD Group, the average number of hours spent gaming has increased from 12.7 hours per week in 2020 to 16.5 hours per week by the end of 2021. The total time spent online is roughly 49 hours per week in the United States.

With the increased availability of rural internet, we are meeting people where they live with the tools at hand. Just as medical telepresence has become a normal option for counseling, VR is the coming thing.

Drug rehabilitation centers do amazing work in difficult times. The Butler Center for Research at Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation reports that roughly 89 percent of patients who complete alcohol rehab are still sober one month after discharge, roughly 76 percent of alcohol rehab patients who successfully complete treatment report still being sober at three months, roughly 69 percent are still sober at six months, and a little more than 70 percent are still sober at nine months.

The news isn’t all good, as The National Institute of Drug Abuse reports that “anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of people with addiction will experience a relapse.”

What ideal new solutions look like

Imagine completing a successful stint in drug rehabilitation. Group therapy, drugs to help with withdrawal, fellow travelers, nurses, time off, and compassion make that process so successful, to begin with. After rehab, is when the challenges truly begin.

Back in the world where drugs and alcohol are, where the social connections, peer pressure, and support systems make substances and the escape they provide tempting enough to put that 40 percent at odds with their best attempts to stay sober.

Returning to the same environments where their addictive behaviors began does not have to be the only option, and technology is providing the solution. Somewhere between the supportive rehab environment and being all on one’s own is where a backstop solution is required. Virtual reality (VR) can provide that support for as long as required to enable a successful transition. Permanently if necessary.

2B3D is a first-of-its-kind metaverse experience for treating PTSD, substance use disorder, and associated complications, specifically in military veterans. Through VR, online homerooms, meditation spaces, and instant 24/7 access to counseling resources will be seconds away at all times.

2B3D and its current partners, BiocorRx and Bell Medical Solutions, are joining with I’m in Transition, a faith-based, non-profit recovery, counseling, and outreach organization that saves lives from overdose.

I’m in Transition meets individuals in their own environment to help them sustain their self-sufficiency during their most vulnerable time just after rehab. As advocates of recovery, we will aim to see clients meeting all obstacles with 2B3D offering the technological means to maintain a new kind of medical telepresence, the virtual medical environment or VME.

I’m in Transition offers a specialized residential recovery and self-help program for ex-convicts, homeless individuals, and others trying to live free of addiction issues. Our treatment program will offer 24/7 VR rehabilitation and a recovery environment accessible by anyone in the program with internet access, making the treatment location less relevant.

2B3D’s VR rehab and recovery program is an evolving Substance Use Disorder (SUD) program that extends and promotes continued treatment by being there to provide an instant connection. 2B3D’s virtual environment will offer post-resident treatment for those in recovery and give patients the opportunity to explore other regions of our expanding Actionverse that can significantly contribute to a successful recovery.

About Robert Bell

2B3D Inc. was founded in 2020 by investor and philanthropist Robert Bell as an all-in-one gaming studio, nonfungible token mint, auction house, and storage system. Bell’s mission was to push the bounds of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies as a way to help military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Bell’s mission to bring peace and healing to veterans is fueled by play-to-earn games, utility NFTs, and exclusive in-game cryptocurrency within a wider decentralized metaverse. Robert also has over two decades of experience as a record-breaking sales executive driving revenue for businesses in the medical sector, including his own company, Bell Medical Solutions, which was founded in 2009.

About 2B3D

2B3D is a military veteran-operated tech company specializing in virtual reality, web3 gaming, NFTs, and mental health solutions in the metaverse. 2B3D is currently developing a metaverse ecosystem using blockchain technology with play-to-earn games, an NFT marketplace and VR showrooms, and VR medical environments for therapy and meeting with healthcare professionals in real time. The 2880 Genesis Collection NFT dropped on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in honor of military veterans on Veterans Day.