A service member puts on a headset with a screen for each
eye.He’s given a joystick that’s built with low-frequency vibrations and
sounds, mirroring the vehicle he drove while on the battlefield. As he
navigates through the virtual combat world, his head movements are tracked with
an orientation system. Pre-fabricated smells mimicking burning rubber and
weapons firing are released into the air, and the service member ventures into
virtual war.
This is the new Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET)
being studied by National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2), a Defense
Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury
center. T2 is currently researching this therapy, which places service members
face-to-face with their unique experiences on the battlefield to help treat
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to help service members process
memories. Once the study is completed, this unique treatment will be offered to
service members and veterans.
“The whole treatment is customized to their memory, down to
the day, time, weather conditions, location in the convoy and the combat
stimuli themselves,” said Dr. Greg Reger, T2 lead psychologist. “The purpose is
to activate the experience to increase emotional engagement, so they can
process that memory.”
The study reviews the effectiveness of VRET by comparing it
to prolonged exposure therapy. T2 conducted the trial based on growing evidence
that VRET is an effective treatment for PTSD and because this form of therapy
may help reach service members who might otherwise avoid traditional talk
therapies because of perceived stigma.
