Virtual Reality may help heal real trauma

In IraqWorld, the sound of a Humvee convoy shakes the eardrums as gunfire rattles nearby. While only a simulation, IraqWorld is essentially recreating a traumatic event for those affected by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Hunter Hoffman is a UW research scientist focusing on virtual reality and how it can be used to treat PTsD.

“The principles underlying virtual reality treatment are the same as what we use for cognitive behavior therapy,” said Associate Professor Lori Zoellner, who heads a research study and treatment program for PTSD.

With PTSD, feelings of anxiety and vulnerability persist long after the event. Some victims experience nightmares of the event, avoidance and distress of any related reminders, a numbness of emotion and sleep disturbances. Recovering from PTSD is a complex process with multiple treatment types.

PTSD patients are afraid of their own memories, Hoffman said. Virtual reality therapy involves patients moving beyond that fear to examine their memories and engage associated emotions.

For example, there’s the World Trade Center program for survivors of the Sept. 11 attack and IraqWorld for returning war veterans.

Virtual reality recreates events in 3-D. For the WTC program, realistic bodies plummet from buildings. In IraqWorld, the patient drives down the streets of Baghdad.

The recreated events progress in a gradual and controlled way. In IraqWorld, a car may drive by. On the second round, the car may swerve menacingly towards the Humvee. Later, the car might attack the convoy.

Hoffman doesn’t have programs for specific incidences such as rape, as these events are highly distinct in what occurred. In the future, Hoffman hopes that the software will be flexible to allow for specific events such as these and will be able to collaborate with Zoellner.

Zoellner’s study involves more than 175 men and women from the UW and the community. Different participants went through natural disasters, combat, childhood abuse or rape, Zoellner said.

One of the goals of the ongoing five-year study is to better understand what types of treatments work best for different people.

Two different and successful approaches are studied: pharmacotherapy, which is treatment through drugs, and psychotherapy, which is treatment through psychological techniques.

In pharmacotherapy, sertraline, an antidepressant, is used to help control anxiety.

In psychotherapy, a technique called prolonged exposure has potential to treat chronic PTSD, Zoellner said.

“[It] helps in promoting emotional processing of the traumatic event through approaching trauma-related memories and situations, also helping our ability to cope with, and adopt to, stressful events,” she said.