Page 713 - Total War on PTSD_FINAL

patients discussing their experience with the VRET approach can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/user/AlbertSkipRizzo.
The BRAVEMIND system is now further evolved to address the unique therapeutic needs of combat medics/corpsmen and persons who have experienced Military Sexual Trauma (MST) with PTSD. This is of particular relevance for SMs who may face trauma from both the threat that is naturally inherent in the combat theater, as well as from the possible additive occurrence of sexual violations from within the ranks. Thus, MST can produce additional risk for the development of PTSD in a population that is already at high risk due to the existing occupational hazards present in the combat environment. This is an issue of significant concern for the Department of Defense (DoD). Thus, in addition to efforts aimed at reducing the incidence of MST with novel education and prevention programs, the U.S. Army funded the expansion of the BRAVEMIND system to address PTSD due to MST. This involved a significant effort to create new content within the existing BRAVEMIND scenarios such as barracks, tents, other living and work quarters, latrines, and other contexts that have been reported by MST victims as in- theatre locations where their sexual assault occurred. Moreover, based on interviews with MST victims, most occurrences of sexual trauma are NOT happening in the trenches of Afghanistan, but rather the more common contexts are in areas around military bases in the U.S.. Thus, stateside military base and civilian contexts were created including barracks, offices, a town bar area, abandoned lots, motel rooms, and civilian automobile settings. While both men and women can experience MST, the urgent need for this work is underscored by the growing role of women transitioning into full combat roles in the combat theatre, an area that up to now has been primarily the domain of men.
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