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/