The Ethics of Emerging Technologies in the Diagnosis and Treatment of PTSD among Service Members

Abstract

This paper examines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used to diagnose and treat service members with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It begins by exploring the history of how the armed forces treated PTSD from the American Civil War to the present. The paper reviews the latest technologies being used to diagnose and treat service members suffering from PTSD and observes future technologies as well. The use of AI can help mental health practitioners diagnose potential PTSD patients, but as this paper argues it should only be used as a tool. The focus here is on the ethical use of AI as a means of promoting positive mental health and recovery from PTSD in relation to human interaction. The paper concludes with the importance of human interaction in the care of PTSD patients while providing ideas of how to better care for service members during the redeployment phase.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 18, 2020
Accession Number
AD1185514

Entities

People

  • Mark D. Phillips

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Afghanistan Conflict
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Biometric Security
  • Civil War
  • Health Care
  • Health Services
  • Machine Learning
  • Medical Personnel
  • Mental Disorders
  • Military Medicine
  • Military Personnel
  • Personnel Management
  • Psychiatry
  • Psychology
  • Second World War
  • Therapy
  • Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Virtual Reality

Readers

  • Geospatial Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence Analytics
  • Mental Health of Military Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Risk Factors, Prevalence, Symptoms, and Treatment.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML
  • AI & ML - DoD AI Strategy