In the future, soldiers with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder may benefit from a new form of therapy, called Virtual Iraq. According to writer Sue Halpern, a small group of test subjects has "worked through their combat trauma in a computer-simulated environment. The portal was a head-mounted display (a helmet with a pair of video goggles), earphones, a scent-producing machine, and a modified version of Full Spectrum Warrior, a popular video game."
In her article, published in The New Yorker, Halpern cites several damning statistics from a study by the RAND Corporation: "...nearly twenty per cent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are suffering from P.T.S.D. or major depression. Almost half won't seek treatment." For those soldiers, Virtual Iraq, designed and built by Albert "Skip" Rizzo, a professor at the University of Southern California, might make treatment more palatable.
At the end of our first hour, we'll talk with Halpern and Rizzo. Have you played Full Spectrum Warrior? What is it like? If you're a soldier or veteran, do you play video games?
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