PTSD - Virtual Treatment

[bn880 5]

Well, very interesting topic.

For Clavicula and others who are skeptical I would tend to agree with Kimmeh. VR is a tool and a part of a psychological treatment and healing process.

You need to have a very well qualified and experienced professional go over your trauma after getting to know your situation extensively, and if necessary he/she could potentially use a VR tool. I do not believe that the visual differences between VR and RL will make a difference if you are willing to go over a specific situation. It does not need to be indistinguishable, just like dreams are often not. Sometimes the less detail you have the better as your brain will fill in the rest with memory and imagination. For you it could be a decision making tool which can put in perspective the reality of the situation(s) you were in, and can help to make sound decisions about how to perceive them for the future. Sometimes VR is believed to be an assistance tool to retrieve repressed and disassociated traumatic memories. It can also be used to introduce alternate or false memory for these repressed traumatic experiences. It all depends on the practitioner, go to the best if you can, and remember that this is all as much of an art as a science. Professionals who take the PTSD model to heart and never question it may never be able to help you. It is a psychiatric model which is questioned in part or its entirety all the time. Maybe you don't actually have a disorder at all and are diagnosed with one, maybe everything is in order according to your new gained experiences and understanding, it may have changed who you are, but is that a DISorder? It is at times culturally subjective. Obviously it is not subjective if you are completely unable to function in life or are experiencing even worse issues.

In psychology perception is everything, and everything is relative. Once your perception of trauma changes, or even your memory of it, you may be able to work it into your life... kind of massage the scarring away and begin a healing process. To me it seems like not everyone will be able to process and accept all of their traumatic experiences, it depends on who you are and what your life has included before and after the trauma.

If you are focused on healing yourself, you won't be thinking about the detail of the VR. Although I can imagine how horribly difficult this may be for dedicated mod makers or game developers once they start to analyze the VR. :D

Hmmm... interesting.

I've got PTSD myself and must admit after so many treatments I'm a tad sceptical about this solving the entire problem. 'Healthy' people may see it as 'being negative in advance which will make it not work anyway' but you cannot judge that until you've been there.

However, it may be a tool that'll assist towards healing in the future. I think this method, or stuff like Virtual Reality stuff, may help to re-confront a person with the situations and re-wire the brains reactions to certain stimuli. A bit like EMDR(a rather famous anti-PTSD method).

Maybe as virtual reality grows more advanced it'll be more immersive and thus more confronting, and perhaps more effective? However, people with PTSD are sometimes very trigger-sensitive and even a scent or sound can make the past events flare back up again, so I dunno. And not everyone is suited to the 'confrontation' treatment method.

I do wonder if it actually can be fully removed. I mean, 'trauma', means wound. PTSD is the result of a psychological wound. Maybe you can heal the wound, but the scar or damage to underlying 'tissue' will still remain?

Food for pyschologists. (I hope to be one, someday )

Kimmy

Edit: spelling.