You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Home Front: WoT
Traumatized US soldiers being treated in 'virtual Iraq'
2007-02-19
Traumatized US soldiers are being treated for post-war psychological disorders by going out on patrol in a computer-generated "virtual Iraq," experts told a conference. Skip Rizzo, a psychologist at the University of Southern California, has helped create a program that simulates life in the war zone for Iraq veterans suffering from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The ground-breaking treatment allows soldiers to experience the sights, sounds and even the smells of a war-zone, courtesy of wrap-around goggles linked to a startlingly realistic virtual world.

The idea is to re-introduce veterans to the experiences that have inflicted mental scars until gradually they are no longer haunted by the memories, a long-established therapeutic technique known as "exposure therapy."
Posted by:Steve White

#7  The ground-breaking treatment allows soldiers to experience the sights, sounds and even the smells of a war-zone, courtesy of wrap-around goggles linked to a startlingly realistic virtual world.

Sounds like a good prep for those about to be sent to Iraq.

Posted by: gromgoru   2007-02-19 22:59  

#6  It's a technique that's been used for a long time to desensitize people with phobias, Frank. Coupled with anti-anxiety medication and biofeedback and suchlike therapies, it works pretty well for many people. PTSD is considered one of the sheaf of anxiety disorders, along with obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic attacks, that apparently one in eight of the general population experience at some point in their lives. I imagine that the incidence of any anxiety disorders is lower in our modern military, simply because there is so much weeding out in the early steps of the process.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-02-19 22:27  

#5  hmmm, I'm no expert, nor do I play one on TV, but "reliving" the Iraqi experience doesn't sound like therapy...but what do I know. This sounds like a grant-fad. I'd be more than willing to listen if I heard some successfully treated GI's proclaiming it a success, rather than Skip Rizzo, USC psychologist
Posted by: Frank G   2007-02-19 20:21  

#4  Great idea, but I am not sure if you ever get over "it"...deal with it yes. I had a terp who had 27 direct IED hits and I wonder if it is going to catch up to him one day and it all come storming back.
Posted by: TopMac   2007-02-19 20:10  

#3  Know a guy back from his 2nd tour in Iraq. Special assignment both times. For reasons of mission, he was sent back to his original duty station w/o any transition after the 2nd one, which was pretty bloody. Totalled his car one day by blasting through an intersection when he saw a white Toyota coming up towards him on a side street, just like the insurgents favored.

Luckily he survived and he managed to miss the van with a mother and kids who had the right of way.

Army's looking for ways to help guys and gals transition better than he did. Lots of the kids are pretty comfortable w/ electronic games, so it's one tool to use.
Posted by: occasional observer   2007-02-19 16:37  

#2  Methinks you missed the point about what they are trying to accomplish here. Good rant, though!
Posted by: SteveS   2007-02-19 08:55  

#1  experience the sights, sounds and even the smells of a war-zone, courtesy of wrap-around goggles linked to a startlingly realistic virtual world.

Does it permit them to experience the loss of their mates in the vaporized HUMVEE directly to their front, and have to speed away without returning fire...attempting to reach the "Sheriff's Net" for reporting and instructions? What about the MANPAD threat that... isn't, but the helos keep dropping form the skies. Does it relate to that? Does it enable them to relate to fellow soldiers on trial or imprisoned for losing it, and blowing away one of these indigenous collaborator muzrat bastards? Does it allow them to experience a diplomatically borne, kinder-gentler ROE where tank main guns and 50 cals are seldom permitted to be used? Does it relate to General Pace and his donkish comments about a faultless Iran? Does it enable them to repond to leftest, communist politicians back home who say "they support the troops" but in truth, don't give a damn. I think I've just had a "smell" of 'virtual Iraq.'
Posted by: Besoeker   2007-02-19 01:07  

00:00