Oklahoma gets VR therapy

KOTV.com has a piece featuring software developed by another PTSD lab at the University of Southern California, currently being used to help Oklahoma veterans.

Newsweek Video: VR and PTSD

Newsweek has joined the growing number of media outlets suggesting the benefits of VR in therapy for veterans with PTSD. Check out the article and video here.

More VR and Iraq

VR applications for Iraq War veterans are all over the news this week. Today's TIME Magazine has an article detailing an Emory study that combines the typical VR exposure therapy I've been writing about with d-Cycloserine (DCS), which affects the amygdala. The intent is to decrease fear as the painful memories are evoked. For a paper on how DCS may work in rats, click here. If you are a veteran currently suffering from anxiety related to military service, please visit the Emory University Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program.

On Friday, CNN ran a piece on a lab at the NIH using the popular video game, "Duke Nukem" as a measure in the assessment of clinically depressed patients.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

One application for VR is therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. Virtual Reality Iraq is based upon the idea that by controlling virtual environments, we can control and decrease the flashbacks and hyper-aroused status that PTSD victims suffer from.