Virtual reality exposure therapy for PTSD Vietnam veterans: A case study

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) integrates real-time computer graphics, body tracking devices, visual displays, and other sensory input devices to immerse a participant in a computer-generated virtual environment that changes in a natural way with head and body motion. VR exposure (VRE) is proposed as an alternative to typical imaginal exposure treatment for Vietnam combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This report presents the results of the first Vietnam combat veteran with PTSD to have been treated with VRE. The patient was exposed to two virtual environments, a virtual Huey helicopter flying over a virtual Vietnam and a clearing surrounded by jungle. The patient experienced a 34% decrease on clinician-rated PTSD and a 45% decrease on self-rated PTSD. Treatment gains were maintained at 6-month follow-up.

Clinical Virtual Reality tools to advance the prevention, assessment, and treatment of PTSD

“…The first effort to apply VRET for PTSD with military populations began in 1997 when researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University began testing the Virtual Vietnam VR scenario with Vietnam veterans diagnosed with PTSD (Rothbaum et al, 1999, 2001). This occurred over 20 years after the end of the Vietnam War.…”

“…During those intervening years, in spite of valiant efforts to develop and apply traditional psychotherapeutic and pharmacological treatment approaches to PTSD, the progression of the disorder in some veterans significantly impacted their psychological well-being, functional abilities, and quality of life, as well as that of their families and friends. This initial effort yielded encouraging results in a case study of a 50-year-old male Vietnam veteran meeting DSM IV-R criteria for PTSD (Rothbaum et al, 1999). Results indicated posttreatment improvement on all measures of PTSD and maintenance of these gains at a six-month follow-up, with a 34% decrease in clinician-rated symptoms of PTSD and a 45% decrease in self-reported symptoms of PTSD.…”

Design and testing of a virtual environment to train stroke patients with unilateral spatial neglect to cross a street safely

“…For example, VR has been used to train surgical residents to carry out a variety of invasive procedures such as knee arthoscopy, and medical students have been taught to palpate tumours and to insert epidural anaesthesia (Satava, 1996). The treatment of psychological dysfunction including phobias (Rothbaum et al, 1995), post-traumatic stress disorder (Rothbaum et al, 1999) and eating and body image disorders (Riva and Melis, 1997) has been highly successful. Recently, VR has been used as a medium for the assessment and rehabilitation of cognitive processes, such as visual perception and executive functioning (Pugnetti et al, 1998;Rizzo et al, 2000).…”

The Use of Virtual Reality in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

“…Recently Virtual Reality (VR) has been introduced to exposure-based therapy of PTSD and is known as Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy or VRET [1,4,9]. VRET may benefit those with combat-related PTSD in its ability to present life-like scenarios via a medium which may be particularly suited to service members.…”

“…This "presence" (i.e., the experience of an artificial stimulus as if it were real) which is an essential element of exposure therapy, contributes to the experience of anxiety and facilitates emotion processing [4,10].…”