Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · Oct 2010
Clinical TrialDevelopment and early evaluation of the Virtual Iraq/Afghanistan exposure therapy system for combat-related PTSD.
Numerous reports indicate that the growing incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in returning Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) military personnel is creating a significant health care and economic challenge. These findings have served to motivate research on how to better develop and disseminate evidence-based treatments for PTSD. ⋯ The system consists of a series of customizable virtual scenarios designed to represent relevant Middle Eastern contexts for exposure therapy, including a city and desert road convoy environment. The process for gathering user-centered design feedback from returning OEF/OIF military personnel and from a system deployed in Iraq (as was needed to iteratively evolve the system) will be discussed, along with a brief summary of results from an open clinical trial using Virtual Iraq with 20 treatment completers, which indicated that 16 no longer met PTSD checklist-military criteria for PTSD after treatment.
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · Oct 2010
Clinical TrialVirtual reality exposure therapy for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic, debilitating, psychological condition that occurs in a subset of individuals who experience or witness life-threatening traumatic events. PTSD is highly prevalent in those who served in the military. ⋯ Three virtual reality scenarios used to treat PTSD in active duty military and combat veterans and survivors of terrorism are presented: Virtual Vietnam, Virtual Iraq, and Virtual World Trade Center. Preliminary results of ongoing trials are presented.
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Rates of suicide among veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) rose significantly from 2005 to 2007, adding to existing concerns about veteran suicide risk by the Department of Veterans Affairs. This paper summarizes the available data about risk and rates of suicide in veterans, including the choice of appropriate comparison groups and the identification of risk factors. ⋯ Thus, the experiences of war and the downstream sequelae, in particular the individuals' psychological reactions and societal responses, lead to suicide risk. This paper describes the VA's response to these data in developing and implementing suicide prevention interventions.