"Virtual Iraq" the title led me to believe it was an essay on a travel cyber tour website of Iraq. Author Sue Halpern writes a totally different story of Iraq, one that I am grateful for its invention and those it helps. The use of Iraq War Veteran Travis Boyd(not his real name)and his battle with PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder grabs your attention and you gain a personal interest immediately in her essay. "Virtual Iraq" is a kind of cognitive-behavioral therapy consisting of a virtual computer-simulated three dimensional environment without using the traditional paper and pencil,sitting and talking. It brings the patient suffering from PTSD front to front with his fears, but in a controlled environment.
Not necessarily a new treatment, as it was used in 1997 20 years after Vietnam with 10 combat veterans with long-term PTSD, who didn't respond to traditional interventions as a clinical trial. It was called virtual Vietnam and all of the veterans showed significant signs of improvement, but it didn't catch on. Albert Rizzo a clinical psychologist had a hunch that if the Iraq war went on, veterans would come home with serious emotional problems. His affiliation with an Institute, designing virtual-reality systems to diagnose attention deficits in children and memory problems with adults led him to find a game called Full Spectrum Warrior. He would then find and call the programmer of Virtual Vietnam and ultimately together created a prototype and set up "Virtual Iraq" as a demo. They applied for money and got rejected, until an article written by Charles Hoge and his colleagues was published as a first assessment of mental-health problems emerging from service in Irag and Afghanistan. Catching the public and military by surprised Rizzo got a call, received the funds needed and the first patients were recruited to try it out.
Travis Boyd, a Iraq War veteran that the author interviews for her essay was a part of the Virtual Iraq clinical trial was hesitant at first, he did not want to talk to therapist's because he feared it would go on his record nor did he want to be considered weak and looked down upon. The feelings were echoed by other veterans and the mere fact that it was like a video game made it more appealing, which I believe is helpful for getting other veterans like Boyd, the help they need. The virtual world has it advantages for sure, the trained therapist can control the environment and add scenarios, effects when the patient is ready and at their pace. What they are doing is structured and systematic, treating the core fear, the avoidance and the anxiety augments the therapeutic process.
The patients work with the therapist in a very collaborative way, they are not overwhelmed. Together they can both set up a time frame to work through therapy, if something becomes to overwhelming the patient can stay in that area for any length of time they feel the need. The smells, sounds and visual effects are something I believe is important to re-visit in order to move past something as well as giving the therapists a bird's eye view of what their patient is actual seeing, hearing, and smelling for an intense insight.
Although this therapy may not work for everyone, the results for Travis Boyd was amazing. Boyd was able to sleep again without medications, was more relaxed, could joke around as well as talk about what happened to him, whereas he struggled desperately with these things before treatment. I feel that if this therapy helps at least half of the patients, it is a successful therapy tool that could one day be used with other mental disorders as an alternative for those who do not respond to traditional treatments.While I read this essay, I could not stop thinking about the movie "Tron" and how that movie sort of started this virtual world idea, did the producers ever think that it would help Travis Boyd and his battle with PTSD? In his words Travis says "You never really get rid of PTSD, but you learn to live with it". It is good to know that there is this amazing technology driven tool that helps him with that, he deserves to be happy and we are indebted to him for his sacrifice.
No comments:
Post a Comment