PSYCHIATRY - VIETNAM VETERANS ...
¦¦¦¦ Dickey Hard ¦¦¦¦
VIETNAM VETERANS are being sent
back to war to cure their post traumatic
stress disorder.
A program called Virtual Vietnam where
patients are put into the jungle, shot at by
snipers and attacked by helicopters has
been created by a team of doctors and
computer experts.
The pioneering treatment is aimed at
desensitising victims to the trauma
inflicted by war. It may soon be available
to the British veterans of the Gulf war
who still suffer trauma.
Researchers in Atlanta believe that
almost any trauma that causes post
traumatic stress disorder can be
recreated in virtual reality, including
domestic violence, car accidents, natural
disasters and fires.
Millions of people suffer from the
disorder. Its symptoms include
nightmares, flashbacks, sleep difficulties,
intrusive thoughts and memories,
isolation, depression and behavioural
problems.
Treatment has largely been through
counselling, but now, with Virtual
Vietnam, there is the first exposure
therapy.
The project, which has brought together
psychologists, psychiatrists, engineers
and computer scientists from Emory
University, Georgia Tech and Atlanta VA
Hospital, is aimed at Vietnam veterans
who still suffer from post traumatic stress
disorder. It is believed there may be as
many as 800,000 of them and new cases
are still being diagnosed.
In the program, which combines sound
and pictures, the patient is immersed in a
wartime Vietnam with helicopters taking
off and landing, explosions, machinegun
noise and the screams of wounded men.
The software is so effective at recreating
images from the past that some of the
first group of veterans who have taken
part have pointed out nonexistent snipers
and booby traps.
In the pilot program, the patients wear a
head-mounted display that gives them
total immersion in the Vietnam jungle.
When they turn their heads, the view
changes as if they were really there.
Throughout the sessions, pulse rate and
heart rate are monitored and various
biochemical tests carried out to ensure
the patient is coping with the experience.
The team also uses a stress test which is
carried out every five minutes to see what
kind of pressures the patient is
experiencing.
According to Atlanta VA psychologist, Dr
David Ready, who is working on the
project, the system allows patients to
confront their fears. "The goal of Virtual
Vietnam is to help the person confront his
problems through exposure therapy, to
get him back in touch with what
happened.
"Our aim is to desensitise them and
reduce or eliminate post traumatic stress
disorder," he says.
Doctors have found that when patients
are traumatised by a memory, it is often
not a complete memory. Virtual Vietnam
helps them to recover more of the
memory and to put it in context and
understand more of what was happening.
"We want to help patients confront their
problems but not be overwhelmed," says
Ready. "The first time they hear mortars
they jump and we don't want it to mess
them up. If it gets too much, they will just
pull off the head display."
The patient's experiences are controlled
by the doctors, who talk to him
throughout the session.
Ready adds: "If the patient talks about
night attacks, I make it night-time in the
virtual world. If he mentions an explosion,
I make one, then he refers to mortars,
and I turn that sound on too. It's very
painful for the patient, but we keep him
there as long as possible."
On average, patients are having 8 to 10
sessions in Virtual Vietnam and the aim of
the pilot project is to treat about 15
victims of trauma.
"We are at the beginning of a new
chapter on how to work with post
traumatic stress disorder," says Ready.
Roger Dobson
DH
peterpan
slice the throat of a child and feel no remorse at all! According to you
gajo
peterpan wrote in message <36459F...@powersite.net>...
>Seems the Serbian chetniks are the strongest animals of all, if they can
>slice the throat of a child and feel no remorse at all! According to you
They're psychos..
firefly
ALBANIANS AND THE CROTS KNOW
HOW TO SLICE THE THROAT. THEY ARE
THR PROFESSIONALS ON THIS FIELD.
peterpan
AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION THE FILTHY CHETNIKS HAVE SLICED THE THROATS OF
300,000 OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE DURING THE WWII JUST FOR PRACTICE!