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Discussion

Video Games and PSTD

Not really a nursing question per se, but I have a conversation starter for those of you who might work with PTS patients

Did anyone else see the story a few weeks ago in the New Yorker about video game treatment? Basically they got some game programmers to change up a popular war shoot-em-up to the characteristics of an iraq war field...then they would have PTSD patients from the recent Iraq conflict enter this virtual world and through prolonged exposure start to overcome certain aspects of their condition.

I'm not very well-versed in PTS, and the clinical substance behind such a treatment seems iffy to me, but the article was fascinating.

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I didn't read the article, but I have some knowledge related to PTSD. I know that Veteran Affairs uses reliving the experiences as a way for sufferers to work through the symptoms and learn how to deal with them on a day to day basis. I don't know if that is what they are doing with the video games, and then following up with therapy and coping skills...

Very interesting. Some of the more recent war video games, like Call of Duty 4, feature hyperrealistic graphics and sound; the companies generally hire combat veterans as consultants to ensure their games look, sound, and even feel like live combat. Call of Duty 4 is also set partly in the Middle East as well, with a story based on the ongoing War on Terrorism. I'd actually wonder about the vets having flashbacks from playing these games myself.

The military itself has used video game technology for years for combat and flight simulations.

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Very interesting. Some of the more recent war video games, like Call of Duty 4, feature hyperrealistic graphics and sound; the companies generally hire combat veterans as consultants to ensure their games look, sound, and even feel like live combat. Call of Duty 4 is also set partly in the Middle East as well, with a story based on the ongoing War on Terrorism. I'd actually wonder about the vets having flashbacks from playing these games myself.

The military itself has used video game technology for years for combat and flight simulations.

I actually think the game they spoke of in the article was a modified COD4, now that you mention it. I've heard of films triggering flashbacks so I'm sure video games would have a similar effect. Part of the therapy requires the PSTD patient to simultaneously "relive" and "rewrite" their traumatic experience, through the simulation...very interesting indeed.

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