Kevlar for the Mind: Virtual reality can help veterans with PTSD symptoms - Off Duty, Military Health and Fitness - Air Force Times

Kevlar for the Mind: Virtual reality can help veterans with PTSD symptoms - Off Duty, Military Health and Fitness - Air Force Times

In one of my first columns here, I talked about the use of virtual reality to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. High-tech visual and audio equipment is used to simulate the combat environment, helping service members reduce the anxiety and distress associated with the most troubling aspects of their combat experience.

At a recent convention on using technology to treat physical and psychiatric disorders, I was reminded of how interesting these technologies are.

Consider someone who is dealing with a phobia — fear of snakes, heights, flying, whatever. In the past, psychologists were often forced to take the patient to the zoo, the top of a building or on an airplane to help the person overcome fear. As you might imagine, this was expensive and logistically challenging.

However, by using virtual reality, psychologists can simulate the stressful situations — with nothing more than a headset and a comfortable chair.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/offduty/health/offduty-kevlar-for-the-mind-virtual-reality-can-help-with-ptsd-symptoms-052311w/

By Bret A. Moore

Army reports significant jump in stress levels for combat troops

Army combat troops deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 had significantly higher levels of acute stress than in 2009, the service said in a Mental Health Assessment Team report released Thursday.

But the MHAT report, completed in February, shows much lower levels of depression than in troops surveyed in post-deployment health assessments over the past year, as documented in a March report by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, based on data compiled by the Defense Medical Surveillance System.

The center also reported last month that throughout the Defense Department there were more hospitalizations for mental disorders than for any other major category of illnesses or injuries.

Col. Rebecca Porter, chief of behavioral health for the Army surgeon general, said the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center reports cannot be compared to the MHAT report as the MHAT report dealt only with troops deployed to Afghanistan.

BY BOB BREWIN