Development and Clinical Results from the Virtual Iraq Exposure Therapy Application for PTSD

Abstract

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is reported to be caused by exposure to an extreme traumatic stressor involving direct personal experience of (or witnessing/learning about) an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury, or other threat to one's physical integrity including (but not limited to) military combat, violent personal assault, being kidnapped or taken hostage and terrorist attacks. Such incidents would be distressing to almost anyone, and are usually experienced with intense fear, horror, and helplessness. Initial data suggests that at least 1 out of 5 Iraq War veterans are exhibiting symptoms of depression, anxiety and PTSD. Virtual Reality (VR) delivered exposure therapy for PTSD has been previously used with reports of positive outcomes. The current paper will present the rationale and description of a VR PTSD therapy application (Virtual Iraq/Afghanistan) and present initial findings from a number of early studies of its use with active duty service members. Virtual Iraq/Afghanistan consists of a series of customizable virtual scenarios designed to represent relevant Middle Eastern VR contexts for exposure therapy, including a city and desert road convoy environment. User-centered design feedback needed to iteratively evolve the system was gathered from returning Iraq War veterans in the USA and from a system deployed in Iraq and tested by an Army Combat Stress Control Team. Results from an open clinical trial using Virtual Iraq with 20 treatment completers indicated that 16 no longer met PTSD diagnostic criteria at post-treatment, with only one not maintaining treatment gains at 3 month follow-up.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA596821

Entities

People

  • Albert Rizzo
  • Barbara Rothbaum
  • Brad Newman
  • Greg Gahm
  • Greg Reger
  • JoAnn Difede
  • Kevin Holloway
  • Robert Mclay
  • Scott Johston
  • Thomas D Parsons

Organizations

  • Naval Medical Center San Diego

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Afghanistan
  • Attrition
  • Brain Injuries
  • Case Studies
  • Clinical Trials
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Health Services
  • Medical Personnel
  • Mental Disorders
  • Mental Health
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Research
  • Military Training
  • User Interface Engineering
  • Virtual Reality
  • War

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Mental Health of Military Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Risk Factors, Prevalence, Symptoms, and Treatment.
  • Psychological Intervention/Treatment for Stress, Anxiety, PTSD, and Related Emotional and Cognitive Health Symptoms.
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.