Treating Traumatic Stress with Videogames

garzpacho writes "Doctors at the Virtual Reality Medical Center are using VR video games to treat post-traumatic stress disorder among vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The software behind the treatment incorporates elements from the military training video game Full Spectrum Warrior, and had some input from designers of America's Army. From the article: 'Dr. Dennis Wood takes patients on what some might consider an odd journey. He starts off leading them to a military compound in Fallujah, Iraq. He then guides them through an Iraqi marketplace before they accompany a patrol through Iraqi homes. And if he thinks they're up to it, he may even take them onto a battlefield, in the midst of explosions and aircraft flying overhead.'"

Comments

The US Govt treats Enlisted men like tampons

[Anonymous Coward]

Once one gets bloody it gets tossed and replaced with another. You really think they give a fuck about their "mental health"? Why not start with ending the "stop loss" measures and let troops come home when their enlistment ends and not six months later. Add in the fact that the US Govt is using psych sessions for evidence in arresting people and no one is going to say shit. "You ok to be discharged soldier?" "Sir, yes sir."

Want to stop PTS? Stop ordering people to kill other people. This whole thing sounds like marketing bullshit, not useful treatment.