Page 655 - Total War on PTSD

applications, one must always operate from a theoretical base of knowledge as to what we know works in the real world. How can we do it better, more effectively, more consistently, and in a more engaging wayiswheretheVR“magic”occurs. With PTSD, the first thing to keep in mind is that we are never going to replicate an exact simulation of what the patient went through. However, we really don't need to as long as the virtual content has key similarities to the trauma context that is relevant to the patient and can serve as an emotionally evocative setting for activating their trauma memories. Although it might seem counter-intuitive to make someone go back and relive a traumatic experience, if you do it at a gradual pace and prevent avoidance with a good clinician in a safe environment, patients get better with time. They might get anxious at first, but anxiety extinguishes as they continue and can sometimes be replaced with a sense of empowerment, following effective confrontation of the traumatic event. We’re also not aiming to erase memories of the trauma — people still remember what they’ve been through but those memories don’t have the same emotional potency to cause psychological distress as they had before treatment.
More recently, we have seen tremendous advances in the enabling technologies for creating VR experiences. This has resulted in the availability of lower cost and higher fidelity VR systems. This has also been primarily driven by investments from the gaming and entertainment industries and, along the way, it is resulting in better equipment, software, and computer graphics. However, the power and value of VR goes well beyond gaming and entertainment. It’s in its potential to create
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