Video-game treatment for traumatized troops

The Washington Post's scathing reporting on the lousy conditions for veterans' outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital has put the spotlight, however briefly, on a subject that often takes a backseat to more immediate concerns when waging war. Namely, how should the United States care for veterans returning from combat? The transition from the mean streets of Baghdad back to Anytown, USA is hardly easy, to say the least.

With that in mind, researchers at the University of Southern California have developed a system to treat post-traumatic stress disorder using virtual reality. The system allows PTSD sufferers to relive trauma-inducing experiences, such as roadside bomb attacks and urban warfare in Baghdad, in a controlled environment where doctors can help patients confront their trauma and work through it. The researchers originally announced their intention to pursue virtual treatment about two years ago, but now clinical trials are proving the method viable.

With some therapies for PTSD treatment already available, the hardest part of the effort might have been recreating a virtual Iraq and Afghanistan from scratch. Fortunately, someone else had already laid the groundwork: The VR simulations used to treat PTSD are modified scenarios from Full Spectrum Warrior—a video game developed for the Xbox.