Tag Archives: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or other anxiety conditions are finding real solutions in a virtual world (incl. video)

Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Cyberpsychology, PTSD, Virtual Environments, Virtual Reality Therapy, , ,

“Patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or other anxiety conditions are finding real solutions in a virtual world.

Stéphane Bouchard, Canada Research Chair in clinical cyberpsychology has demonstrated how a virtual tour of an animated space can help people battle their personal demons.

Afraid of spiders?

Virtual reality therapy allows patients to confront spiders, a bit at a time, with visuals so real in a three-dimensional, computer-simulated environment as to evoke the same emotions as the real thing.”

By Wayne Scanlan at Ottawa Citizen

Image and video by Errol McGihon

Read more: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/virtual-reality-therapy-treats-anxiety-with-a-dose-of-virtual-demons

Can Virtual Reality Unlock The Cure To PTSD? (inc. video)

Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Cyberpsychology, Health, Presence, PTSD, Virtual Environments, Virtual Reality Therapy,

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“At USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies Albert “Skip” Rizzo and his team are using virtual reality — a technology in the midst of booming growth — to help combat veterans fully process and recover from PTSD.

In Rizzo’s “Bravemind” program, patients revisit painful memories in a VR setting, under the care of a trained therapist. This sense memory allows them to access the memory clearly and, in doing so, to fully process it.

It’s a revolutionary type of exposure therapy that has so far netted promising results.”

BY STEVE BRAMUCCI at Uproxx.com

Read more: http://uproxx.com/life/bravemind-virtual-reality/

Virtual reality for PTSD (incl. video)

Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Cyberpsychology, Dissociation, Presence, PTSD, Virtual Environments, Virtual Reality Therapy,

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“Members of the military, first-responders and police officers may be more likely than most to struggle with PTSD. Now researchers are testing a new therapy designed to speed recovery.

JoAnn Difede, Ph.D., director of the Program for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian is developing a type of exposure therapy using virtual reality.

“The idea of the treatment is to teach the person, their brain, if you will, that those cues aren’t scary anymore. Nothing bad is going to happen,” explained Difede.”

By KSAT/Ivanhoe Newswire

Read more: http://www.ksat.com/health/virtual-reality-for-ptsd

How VR is helping the victims of terrorism

Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Cyberpsychology, Health, Presence, PTSD, Virtual Environments, Virtual Reality Therapy,

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“Virtual reality is already used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder in soldiers – now it’s helping the victims of terrorist attacks

Researchers are carefully building virtual-reality versions of the Bataclan theatre and Paris streets to simulate the horrific attacks of last November. It’s not for some sick game, but to help victims suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD).

VR headsets are being used to treat a variety of psychological issues: to help people with autism train for stressful social situations, such as job interviews; to overcome phobias; and to reduce pain, particularly in people with severe burns, by distraction.

VR has been used to treat PTSD for more than a decade, the improvement and commercialisation of VR headsets of late has certainly helped, says Dr Albert “Skip” Rizzo, the director of medical virtual reality at the Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California.

Dr Rizzo is working with a consortium of European collaborators to build a virtual Paris scenario.

By Nicole Kobie at Alphr

Read more: http://www.alphr.com/virtual-reality/1003568/how-vr-is-helping-the-victims-of-terrorism

Virtual Reality Being Used To Help People Conquer Real World Fears (video)

Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Cyberpsychology, Health, Presence, PTSD, Virtual Environments, Virtual Reality Therapy, ,

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“Overcoming phobias when people have extreme reactions, to things like snakes or speaking in public. Virtual reality is now being used to help people conquer real world fears.

Dr. Skip Rizzo, of the Institute for Creative Technologies, uses virtual reality to treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“We can put people back in these simulations and help them to confront and process very difficult emotional memories,” Dr. Rizzo said.”

By Stephanie Stahl at CBS3

Read more: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/01/08/health-virtual-reality-being-used-to-help-people-conquer-real-world-fears/

Virtual Reality Therapy: Treating The Global Mental Health Crisis

Autism, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Cyberpsychology, Health, Mindfulness, Presence, PTSD, Virtual Environments, Virtual Reality Therapy, ,

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“Can virtual reality become a global mental health treatment platform?

Virtual reality (VR) has been used for decades as a tool for therapists to administer virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) in a safe and controlled manner. Due to cost and technology limitations, it has not been widely available, to date.

With the advent of affordable mobile VR headsets, such as the Gear VR, there is a new opportunity to apply telemedicine to decentralize mental health treatment, reaching more patients and improving lives around the world.”

By Alex Senson at TechCrunch

Read more: http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/06/virtual-reality-therapy-treating-the-global-mental-health-crisis/

2016 May Be The Year That Virtual Reality Can Treat Anxiety, Autism and PTSD (video)

Autism, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Cyberpsychology, Health, Presence, PTSD, Virtual Environments, Virtual Reality Therapy, , , , , , ,

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“A new video from The Economist claims that 2016 will be the year of the “virtual reality takeover”.

Perhaps most interestingly, virtual reality isn’t all just fun and games; it’s expanded into the medical world, offering new therapies for people suffering from autism, anxiety, phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The video describes the use of virtual reality exposure therapy for a former soldier suffering from PTSD, noting that it can help ease the mental illness.

“We’re helping patients to confront and process difficult emotional memories by putting them back in simulations of what they were traumatized in,” Skip Rizzo, a psychologist who works with virtual reality exposure therapy, said in the video.”

By Lecia Bushak at Medical Daily

Read more: http://www.medicaldaily.com/pulse/virtual-reality-takeover-2016-may-be-year-virtual-reality-can-treat-anxiety-autism-367204

Emory Uses Virtual Reality To Treat Military Sexual Trauma Survivors

Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Cyberpsychology, Health, Presence, PTSD, Virtual Environments, Virtual Reality Therapy, , ,

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“At Emory University, researchers are using virtual reality to treat veterans who suffered sexual abuse in the military and now have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Emory University psychiatry professor Barbara Rothbaum has been using virtual reality to treat anxiety disorders since 1995.

Rothbaum said wearing a virtual reality headset to see and hear the sounds from a particular place can help patients confront what happened.

“A lot of military sexual trauma survivors have avoided relationships, crowds, going to the gym, so we figure if we can place them in that situation and have them go back to the time of the memory and recount it over and over, we’re hopeful that that can help them even more than regular therapy,” Rothbaum said.”

By TASNIM SHAMMA at WABE News

Image by ALISON GUILLORY / WABE

Read more: http://news.wabe.org/post/emory-uses-virtual-reality-treat-military-sexual-trauma-survivors

Bravemind provides virtual reality therapy

Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Cyberpsychology, Health, PTSD, Virtual Environments, Virtual Reality Therapy, , ,

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“Freeman Health System’s Ozark Center in Joplin has three Bravemind devices— one for adults, one for children and another just for veterans.

The subject puts on headgear that has a 360-degree perspective and replicates for veterans desert scenes like they would have witnessed serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The virtual-reality machine is an extension of prolonged exposure therapy, where the veteran will re-experience a traumatic event repeatedly in a safe place while being counseled by a professional.

Engaging with the trauma allows patients to change their reaction to stimuli, desensitize the trauma and allow for healthy coping mechanisms.”

By Sofia Sanchez Salcedo at Neoshow Daily News

Read more: http://m.neoshodailynews.com/article/20151112/NEWS/151119579

VIDEO GAME TECHNOLOGY USED TO TREAT PTSD, PHOBIAS (Video)

Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Cyberpsychology, Health, Presence, PTSD, Virtual Environments, Virtual Reality Therapy, ,

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“Doctors and researchers are using virtual reality technology to create simulated events to help patients facing real life issues every day.

“We can put people back in these simulations and help them to confront and process very difficult emotional memories,” Dr. Skip Rizzo at the University of Southern California said.

“The range of areas include psychological treatments, cognitive assessment and rehabilitation, physical therapy is a big area.”

By Denise Dador at ABC7 News LA

Read more: http://abc7.com/health/video-game-technology-used-to-treat-ptsd-phobias/1078235/