Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders & Virtual Reality
About
Name: Matthew van den Steen
Research on: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders & Virtual Reality
Started: November 2008
Status: Scenario writing, programming
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Introduction
Whether people go to work, study, or plan their holidays, there is most likely something out there that puts them in an inevitable stressful situation. Despite the fact that most people want to avoid such situations, they can often handle them without any problems or complications. However, it is a whole different story when someone is exposed to a traumatic event beyond the bounds of common, everyday human experiences. In such cases a person can develop a ‘Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder’ (PTSD) [1]. This type of anxiety disorder is often linked to military soldiers who have witnessed a stressful event, but it can also affect people who have, for example, been in a motor accident or people who were confronted with a personal assault.
A wide range of possible options for treatment include therapies such as ‘prolonged imaginal exposure therapy’, ‘in vivo exposure’ and ‘eye movement desensitization and reprocessing’ (EMDR). Alternatively, various medicines are available to help patients cope with their disorder.
With the emergence of better and faster technology, various new approaches have been proposed. One such approach is the use of ‘Virtual Reality’ [2]. This technique enables the patient to interact in a virtual representation of the world. ‘Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy’ (VRET) [2] is one particular way of treatment and is already being used in practice to help people suffering from several different phobias other than a PTSD, such as, but not limited to, acrophobia and agoraphobia. In these worlds a variety of anxiety-provoking stimuli can be triggered at any time. Because the level of these stimuli can be changed, it is possible to gradually expose the patient to various levels of intensity. Studies [3] have shown promising results. However, is ‘VRET’ or virtual reality in general also a good way to treat patients suffering from a PTSD? Key aspects related to ‘Virtual Reality’ (such as ‘presence’) may be of importance, but what about other elements, if any?
A study [4] has shown that when a therapy lacks to engage the patient emotionally, it will often lead to poor, undesirable results. The same study states that facts about both the patient and the whole ordeal need to be present in order to evoke emotions. Due to certain patients either avoiding specific moments of the event, or not being able to express themselves thoroughly, it is often very difficult to gather all of the facts and link them together. It is also said that in some cases the patient even has an unrealistic view of what might have happened.
Traditional treatment for patients with a PTSD poses several problems while trying to engage the patient emotionally, whereas the use of ‘Virtual Reality’ makes it possible to accomplish this gradually with the help of a set of pre-defined stimuli. It is essential to look at traditional treatment first and see if, for example, ‘VRET’ or ‘Virtual Reality’ in general can be used to enhance the effects which are currently obtained without the help of these new techniques. This research assignment will therefore not only include research on how ‘Virtual Reality’ can be used to help people with a PTSD, but also traditional treatments and their important aspects will be taken into account.
1. Emmelkamp, P.M.G., T.K. Bouman, and A. Scholing, Anxiety disorders: a practitioner's guide. 1995, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
2. Harvey, A.G., R.A. Bryant, and N. Tarrier, Cognitive behaviour therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 2003. 23(3): p. 501-522.
3. Bush, J., Viability of virtual reality exposure therapy as a treatment alternative. Computers in Human Behavior, 2008. 24(3): p. 1032-1040.
4. Difede, J., et al., Virtual reality exposure therapy for the treatment of Posttraumatic stress disorder following September 11, 2001. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2007. 68(11): p. 1639-1647.
