Virtual Reality Helps GIs Deal with PTSD
From: Associated Press - 08/04/2007
By: Melanthia Mitchell

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which affects an estimated 15 to 30
percent of Iraq war veterans, can cause nightmares and flashbacks so severe
that some veterans suffering from it unwillingly withdraw from society, so in
2005 the Office of Naval Research provided a $4 million grant to several
organizations to study how virtual reality can help treat PTSD. Today, the
Madigan Army Medical Center is planning to start a treatment system that uses
virtual reality to recreate the conditions of war to help treat PTSD. During
a demonstration at Madigan, Staff Sgt. Jeff Ebert, who does not suffer from
PTSD, is visibly jolted when a concussion from a simulated bomb rocks the
mock Humvee he is driving. Ebert views the scene using a headset while he
sits in a chair on a platform that rumbles and shakes to simulate the
vehicle's motion. Smells like body odor, gun smoke, or burning rubber can
also be added to enhance the simulation. Madigan clinical psychologist Greg
Reger, a former Army captain who served in Iraq for a year with the 62nd
Medical Brigade, says the treatment starts by interviewing the soldier to
learn what caused the PTSD, and then tailoring a virtual reality scenario for
that person. "What this technology does is it gives us an environment to help
facilitate soldiers telling of their own story," Reger says. Virtual reality,
combined with behavioral therapy, is also being used to treat patients with a
variety of phobias, including the fear of flying, heights, and spiders.
Previous treatments for PTSD generally involved either group or individual
psychotherapy, or asking the patient to imagine the experience. "The issue is
you want to access the fear hierarchy in patients," says Mark Wiederhold,
president and director of Virtual Reality Medical Center in San Diego, Calif.
"Only about 15 percent of people are good imaginers. They have difficulty
maintaining that state of imagining a scenario. Virtual reality is a much
more vivid experience."  

Read the entire article at:
http://www.thestate.com/technology-wire/story/137322.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070804/ap_on_hi_te/virtual_reality_ptsd;_ylt=ArorXp8dNTdiKgzFRYhHSzas0NUE
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2007-08-03-713166367_x.htm

Links:
Virtual Reality Medical Center
http://www.vrphobia.com/

Madigan Army Medical Center
http://www.mamc.amedd.army.mil/wrmc/wrmcfront.htm

Reliving the war - as therapy
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003724766_virtualreality28m.html

Army Uses Virtual Tool in its Battle with PTSD
http://www.army.mil/-news/2007/03/23/2387-army-uses-virtual-tool-in-its-battle-with-ptsd/
http://www.army.com/articles/item/2845

Albert Rizzo
http://www.usc.edu/schools/medicine/departments/cell_neurobiology/research/isnsr/rizzo_pres.html

Facing Fear through Virtual Reality
http://bfc.positscience.com/brain/spotlight/rizzo.php

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Assessment and Treatment (PTSD)
http://www.ict.usc.edu/content/view/31/84/