Lindsay Wise
Seven thousand miles from Iraq, inside a lab at the University of Houston, Patrick Bordnick watches a sandstorm rage through the streets of Baghdad.
With the click of his computer mouse, the wind stops howling. The sun blazes in a cloudless sky. Another click, and a helicopter swoops overhead. Another, and dusk falls. The call to prayer sounds. A baby cries. Spicy scents waft from a nearby market stall.
Bordnick points at a rusty car parked across the street. ?I could make that blow up right now,? he says.
Bordnick isn?t some hi-tech terrorist mastermind. He?s the director of the Virtual Reality Clinical Research Lab at UH. This is Virtual Iraq, a state-of-the-art programme designed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
As part of a study by Bordnick and researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Centre, veterans in Houston will soon be able to put on a headset and go on a foot patrol in Baghdad or a Humvee ride along a desert highway.
Other virtual reality programmes developed by Bordnick will re-create scenarios in the civilian world, such as a crowded bar or a rooftop party, so veterans can practice strategies to avoid the alcohol and drug problems that often come with PTSD.
More than a third of Iraq or Afghanistan veterans have been diagnosed with PTSD, depression, alcohol abuse or other mental health problems, according to a study released last month by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Centre.
The idea of virtual reality therapy is to enable the veterans to revisit their memories of combat with a therapist so they can process fear and anxiety in a healthy manner, said Bordnick, an associate professor at UH. ?You?re trying to help the soldier work through a pretty scary or tragic situation,? he said. ?You?re trying to return power and control to them.?
With the headset on, the veteran has a 360-degree view of the virtual world. He can look up at the tiled dome of a mosque or down at the mosaic at his feet. A special platform enables him to feel the vibration of the Humvee engine or the concussion of a bomb blast. A scent machine replicates the smell of smoke, diesel, sweat, burning rubber or traditional Iraqi foods. The veteran can also interact with soldiers, civilians and insurgents, although he can?t kill anyone or be killed.
The programme comes with a joystick, but many veterans who helped test the equipment felt insecure exploring Virtual Iraq without a weapon in their hands, so a fully weighted dummy of an M16 assault rifle was created for them to hold, instead.
It?s an innovative way to reach out to veterans who might otherwise shy away from talking about their problems, said Richard De La Garza, an associate professor of psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine. ?Remember who we?re dealing with,? De La Garza said. ?These are the new veterans. They are younger, more computer savvy, more technologically oriented, so this will appeal to them.?
Virtual Iraq has been tested at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre and other military hospitals for several years. Funded by the Office of Naval Research, the programme was the brainchild of Dr Albert ?Skip? Rizzo, a clinical psychologist from the University of Southern California. He worked with colleagues from USC?s Institute of Creative Technologies to adapt the video game Full Spectrum Warrior as a clinical tool.
The result is a form of ?prolonged exposure therapy,? in which therapists ask patients to relive traumatic experiences through visualisation, writing, images or artwork. ?It?s an intensive therapy where you?re really trying to desensitise people to all the triggers that bring back all the symptoms of PTSD,? said David P Graham, a psychiatrist who works with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at the VA hospital in Houston. ?Virtual reality allows us a new and unique way and a safe environment to work people through all these triggers while the therapist is in there in the room with them.?
When the veteran has the headset on, the therapist sees what the veteran sees on a computer screen and monitors the veteran?s heart rate, blood pressure, and other stress indicators. The therapist controls the virtual environment, gradually introducing cues like gunshots or explosions.
?You don?t just put them in the Hummer and start blowing things up all over the place,? Bordnick said. ?Just seeing a Hummer, even with friendly forces around, may initiate some (emotions) from that soldier.?
Similarly, in a virtual bar, the veteran might have a strong reaction to a certain brand of alcohol or the smell of marijuana. Party-goers invite him to smoke a joint or have a drink.
The experience can be intense. After every session, there?s time set aside for the veteran to decompress.