Using war games to treat post-traumatic stress disorder
May 16, 2011 in Psychology & Psychiatry
For those soldiers worried about the stigma associated with seeing a therapist, virtual reality applications for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be the alternative to the traditional "talk therapy." A new paper, by Albert Rizzo from the University of Southern California, Institute for Creative Technologies, Los Angeles, and his team, reviews how virtual reality applications are being designed and implemented across various points in the military deployment cycle, to prevent, identify and treat combat-related PTSD.
Their findings are published online in the June issue² of Springer's Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, specially dedicated to contemporary psychological advances as they apply to soldiers and their families.
The stressful experiences that characterize the Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom war fighting environments have produced significant numbers of returning military personnel at risk of developing PTSD. At the same time, virtual reality (VR) has stepped into clinical practice, as a result of technological advances that have made it feasible and cost-effective to run VR systems on a personal computer.
What Rizzo and team's work shows is that VR is able to deliver exposure therapy - the number one therapy recommended for PTSD - by immersing returning soldiers in simulations of trauma-relevant environments. The emotional intensity of the scenes can be precisely controlled by the clinician in collaboration with the patients' wishes. VR allows multi-sensory and context-relevant cues that evoke the trauma without exclusively relying on the patient to actively remember and imagine actual experiences (as is required in traditional exposure approaches).
Rizzo and team review their immersive virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) system for combat-related PTSD. Their application consists of a series of virtual scenarios, based on accounts by returning soldiers of what it is like out there in a war environment.
Their clinical results to date are encouraging. One test in particular found that 80 percent of those who completed treatment with this system showed clinically meaningful reductions in PTSD, anxiety and depressive symptoms. In addition, anecdotal evidence from patient reports suggests improvements in their everyday lives for at least three months after treatment.
The researchers are also exploring other applications for their system, including stress resilience training i.e. to teach soldiers coping strategies prior to deployment to better prepare them for the types of emotional challenges they are likely to encounter in the combat environment. Another area of interest for the system is the identification of those soldiers who are ready to get back into the field versus those who need further treatment or more time between deployments.
According to the authors, this new approach to psychotherapy has widespread ramifications: "The current generation of young military personnel, having grown up with digital gaming technology, may actually be more attracted to and comfortable with participation in virtual reality exposure therapy. The need for treatments to address the mental health needs of our military personnel, alongside the virtual revolution that has taken place, has led to a state of affairs which stands to transform the vision of future clinical practice and research."
More information: Rizzo A et al (2011). Virtual reality goes to war: a brief review of the future of military behavioral healthcare. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings; DOI 10.1007/s10880-011-9247-2. Available at http://www.springerlink.com/content/03533254r5q65p86/
Provided by Springer
-
Innovative virtual reality exposure therapy shows promise for returning troops
Feb 16, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
VR program may help soldiers avoid PTS
Jun 22, 2006 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Virtual combat game helps treat stress disorder
Jan 26, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Virtual reality and other technologies offer hope
Feb 11, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
US soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder more likely to feel long-term psychological effect
Jan 03, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Pressure-volume curve: Elastic Recoil Pressure don't make sense
May 18, 2013
-
If you became brain-dead, would you want them to pull the plug?
May 17, 2013
-
MRI bill question
May 15, 2013
-
Ratio of Hydrogen of Oxygen in Dessicated Animal Protein
May 13, 2013
-
Alcohol and acetaminophen
May 13, 2013
-
Marie Curie's leukemia
May 13, 2013
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Ketamine shows significant therapeutic benefit in people with treatment-resistant depression
Patients with treatment-resistant major depression saw dramatic improvement in their illness after treatment with ketamine, an anesthetic, according to the largest ketamine clinical trial to-date led by researchers from the ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
4 hours ago |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
0
|
US psychiatry gets makeover in new manual
The latest makeover to a massive psychiatric tome honored by some, reviled by others and even called the "Bible" of mental disorders is being released Saturday with a host of new changes.
Psychology & Psychiatry
16 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Study reviews readmissions in inpatient psychiatric facilities
(HealthDay)—Most Medicare beneficiaries treated in inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs) exhibit characteristics associated with hospital readmission, according to a report prepared for the National Association ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
Skydiving is never plane sailing
Skydivers show the same level of physical stress before every jump whether a first-timer or experienced jumper, say Northumbria researchers.
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
|
Kids, especially boys, perceive sadness of depressed parents
Children of depressed parents pick up on their parents' sadness—whether mom or dad realizes their mood or not.
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 17, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
1
|
Consuming coffee linked to lower risk of detrimental liver disease, study finds
Regular consumption of coffee is associated with a reduced risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), an autoimmune liver disease, Mayo Clinic research shows. The findings were being presented at the Digestive Disease ...
Research examines new methods for managing digestive health
Research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) explores new methods for managing digestive health through diet and lifestyle.
New research identifies risks, interventions for children's GI health
An increasing number of U.S. children are experiencing gastrointestinal issues that require interventions to resolve, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW).
New smartphone application improves colonoscopy preparation
The use of a smartphone application significantly improves patients' preparation for a colonoscopy, according to new research presented today at Digestive Disease Week (DDW). The preparation process, which begins days in ...
New research identifies practice changes to improve value and quality of GI procedures
There are significant cost and risk factors associated with two procedures commonly used to diagnose or treat gastrointestinal problems, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW).
New case of SARS-like virus in Saudi: ministry
A new case of the deadly coronavirus has been detected in Saudi Arabia where 15 people have already died after contracting it, the health ministry announced on Saturday on its Internet website.