The U.S. Army has begun a four-year study to track the results of using virtual reality therapy to treat veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder, NextGov reports.
The Center for Telehealth and its parent unit, the Defense Centers for Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, are managing the project at the Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash.
Doctors involved in the study are using a virtual Iraq program developed by the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies' VRPSYCH Lab.
Army psychologist Greg Reger said that study is the first time virtual reality has been tested using active duty soldiers to compare its efficacy against traditional talk therapy (Brewin, NextGov, 2/22).