对死亡的病态恐惧（死亡恐惧症）对身心健康具有实质危害，不仅与储蓄囤积和工作狂倾向密切相关，还会使心脏病患者的死亡风险翻倍，甚至诱发患者逃避早期癌症筛查。针对这一普遍心理困境，虚拟现实（VR）死亡模拟正展现出独特的干预价值。2023年维多利亚国家美术馆展出了肖恩·格拉德威尔（Shaun Gladwell）设计的10分钟VR体验项目《瞬逝的电风暴》（Passing Electrical Storms）。参与者躺在同步心跳震动的病床上佩戴VR设备，亲历自身心率骤降、医生抢救失败宣告脑死亡、灵魂离体漫游宇宙直至微缩融入细胞与原子的全过程，现场配合6台大型风扇营造体温下降的真实感。皇家墨尔本理工大学斯蒂芬·格罗伊特（Stefan Greuter）团队在6月发表的研究表明，绝大多数志愿者将此过程视作舒缓体验，不少人表示死亡焦虑大幅缓解。

另一项发表于《虚拟现实前沿》（Frontiers in Virtual Reality）的得克萨斯州学术研究则测试了一项时长11分钟的濒死体验模拟。学生志愿者在头显中经历车祸、昏迷、光之隧道、宁静风景以及与亲友重逢的意象。测试结果显示，参与者自评的死亡焦虑平均显著下降了18%，许多受试者直言其具备深度的心理放松效果。研究人员推测，若将该测试拓展至体弱、高龄或绝症晚期患者群体，心理疗效可能更为突出。然而，这种虚拟直面死亡的技术并非对所有人奏效：在学生志愿者中，有四分之一（25%）表示体验后对死亡的焦虑反而加重，三分之一（约33.3%）在结束测试时承受了更严重的心理压力。

除了普通人对自身死亡的恐惧，医护人员对患者在诊治中死亡的职业恐惧亦可通过模拟进行脱敏与应对训练。《手术教育杂志》（Journal of Surgical Education）1月披露了一起威斯康星大学医学院的突发案例：在一次常规肠道手术临床模拟训练中，带教督导未经预先通知擅自偏离流程，“模拟处死”了模拟假人。心电监护仪骤停成直线，原本从容准备手术的医学生陷入严重恐慌，甚至在复盘中爆发急性惊恐发作，自责“我不配毕业”。研究人员指出，医生不可避免地会经历患者死亡，通过受控情境提前引导医学生正视并消化这种沉重的情绪负荷，是医学院校应当普遍推广的关键心理韧性课程。

Thanatophobia—the debilitating anxiety surrounding mortality—exacts severe physical and behavioral tolls, correlating with pathological hoarding and doubled mortality risks among cardiac patients due to chronic stress and avoidance of cancer screenings. Virtual reality (VR) simulations are emerging as potent psychiatric tools to demystify dying. At the National Gallery of Victoria, artist Shaun Gladwell introduced a ten-minute simulation titled "Passing Electrical Storms," where supine participants wore headsets displaying their cardiac arrest, failed clinical resuscitation, brain death, and an expansive out-of-body transition into the cosmos, physically augmented by six industrial cooling fans. A June academic evaluation led by Stefan Greuter of RMIT University indicated that most participants found the immersive transition remarkably serene, reporting substantial reductions in existential dread.

These therapeutic benefits are reinforced by clinical findings from a study in Texas published in Frontiers in Virtual Reality, which evaluated an 11-minute near-death scenario. Student cohorts visualized surviving a severe vehicle collision followed by a coma, luminous tunnels, tranquil vistas, and emotional reunions with loved ones. Standardized metrics revealed an average 18% reduction in baseline death anxiety among the cohort. While researchers hypothesized that terminal and geriatric demographics might experience even greater psychological alleviation, the intervention carries clear contraindications: 25% of the student volunteers reported heightened death anxiety post-simulation, and roughly one-third (33.3%) emerged with elevated physiological and emotional stress metrics.

Beyond mitigating personal mortality fears, experiential simulation offers significant pedagogical value in conditioning clinicians against the traumatic impact of patient death. A study published in the Journal of Surgical Education detailed an unscripted clinical drill at the University of Wisconsin, where an instructor deliberately flatlined a simulated patient during bowel surgery preparations. Unwarned medical trainees suffered severe acute panic reactions, verbalizing intense fears of clinical inadequacy and professional disqualification. Medical educators conclude that introducing controlled, high-fidelity mortality events provides essential emotional inoculation, training future physicians to manage the profound psychological burden of patient loss prior to entering live operating theatres.

Source: Simulating death can reduce people’s fear of dying

Subtitle: And help doctors train for the worst

Dateline: Oct 1st 2026\n