Virtual reality 'war' helps treat troops traumatised by combat
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
22 April 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=631891

The Independent

The Pentagon has spent $4m (£2.1m) to create virtual reality "video games"
that simulate combat situations in Iraq, to help treat traumatised soldiers
on their return to the US.

Thousands of the troops are suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
As part of the scheme, military doctors will measure their reaction to the
combat simulation through heartbeat, blood pressure, breathing rate and skin
temperature.

Doctors hope the data will help them better diagnose PTSD and suggest
appropriate treatment. They also hope the project, which took three years to
develop at the San Diego Naval Medical Centre in California, will have
civilian uses.

Dr James Spira, a staff psychologist at the centre, said that monitoring
troops' reactions could help them gain a better control over their behaviour
in certain situations. "The virtual reality environment is clearly not the
same as being there," he said. "We don't want it to be the same as being
there. We want it to be semi-realistic. We want it to be enough to trigger
the thoughts and feelings so they can control those."

An article in the New England Journal of Medicine said nearly 17 per cent of
all US troops returning from Iraq had reported mental illness of some type
relating to combat. Officials said there had been an increase in broken
marriages, car accidents, fights, and alcohol or drug abuse. Many troops
report problems dealing with their anger and frustration on return to a
non-combat environment.

In addition to the visual simulations, troops taking part in the project
wear headphones into which the sound of American military helicopters is
played, along with that of sniper fire and mortar rounds. 



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