The role of technology in mental health and disease

Rizzo is recreating scenes from the battlefields of the Middle East in a virtual landscape and he is an example of how innovators are using technology to use it in a new way. In this case, it’s helping veterans to make sense of traumatic experiences.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs states that seven out of every 100 people will have PTSD at some point in their lives. About 5.2 million people will have PTSD during a given year, but that’s “only a small portion” of people who will experience trauma, the department states.

Soldiers who have served in the war on terror don’t want to go back , but in order to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), many of them will have to do that, even if just in their own minds. Soldiers put on a headset that sits over the ears and eyes and stand on a platform that emits the feeling of movement or explosions. They are transported to a virtual Middle East, moving with the help of a game controller. Through this kind of virtual reality and video game technology, ICT’s program helps soldiers deal with memories that could alter, if not destroy, their lives back home.

ICT’s virtual reality adds new dimension to a process known as prolonged exposure therapy, an approach that’s been around since the 1990s but not often used, says David Yusko, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety.

“The vast majority of people don’t know about it and don’t use it,” Yusko said. “But it’s highly effective for PTSD, whereas medication is not very effective and talk therapy doesn’t always do enough.”

The treatment is used for PTSD caused by any traumatic event, from a car wreck to sexual assault. Yusko said exposure therapy helps give the brain context for the event, making it more manageable.

Of course, it’s not always easy to tell what’s going on. Warren said his PTSD presented as panic attacks and an overwhelming sense of anxiety that he didn’t immediately realize he needed help for.

“Within two weeks of being home, I knew I wasn’t the same kid I was when I left,” Warren said. “I just felt anxious and guilty. There’s a change that goes on in the brain that makes it very hard to feel what you know.”

That’s why exposure therapy works, Yusko said — it gives the brain control over the memories again.

“Exposure therapy creates a narrative so people have a context for the story,” Yusko said. “It’s kind of like seeing a horror movie: By the 10th or 20th time, it’s still scary, but it’s not as activating. But if you’re just seeing that one scary scene over and over and you don’t know why, it’s frightening.”
Warren said exposure therapy helped him control his fear.

ICT’s work with video game technology goes further than soldiers getting their lives back. Elie, a virtual human developed at ICT operates on a program called SimSensei, which is using a webcam and Xbox Kinect infrared sensors to read movement and identify nonverbal cues on a user’s face.  As Ellie talks with a person, the Kinect is recording user eye movement and smile intensity to gain information about the user’s emotional state.

Nonverbal behaviours help psychiatrists collect essential information patients may be unable to put into words. A 2010 study of these behaviours from Wright State University found that about 60 percent of interpersonal communication is relayed nonverbally, yet clinical settings rely on spoken exchanges.

By asking a series of questions and monitoring nonverbal reactions, Ellie can infer things about a patient that take more time for doctors to identify.  Hopefully, Ellie will be used by VA hospitals or anywhere people can get help when suicidal or homicidal thoughts appear.

http://www.boogames.eu/