SAN ANTONIO -- So many of our friends and neighbors come home from war and suffer in silence. By some estimates as many as one of every three members of the military who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.
But a brand new high-tech treatment for PTSD is about to be tried right here in San Antonio.
The images of war can become routine, at least as they are seen on the news. But for those who have been there, the images come home along with them and can change everything.
"Usually, it brings up a lot of frustration, unexplained frustration, sometimes anger, and a lot of times sadness," said one San Antonio man, who didn't want to be identified.
He was deployed to Iraq twice and knows all about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"Not feeling like you can go to Walmart, or not feeling like you can go to the movies, be around large crowds of people," he told News 4 WOAI. "That's one form, and that's a very simple form. But people deal with that every day."
So the military is trying new things to deal with PTSD. One way is to take the most horrific images of war and recreating them as realistically as possible.
It's what you could call Virtual Iraq and Virtual Afghanistan. A computer-generated 360-degree immersion through Virtual Reality technology.
Dr. Kellie Crowe is in charge of the new PTSD clinic at Wilford Hall Medical Center. Dr. Crowe gave News WOAI's Randy Beamer an up-close look at the latest PTSD treatment the U.S. Air Force is just beginning to use.
The idea is to help soldiers bring back more of those memories of war.
"It seems kinda contra-indicated doesn't it? It seems tough, but what we know...Folks are experiencing it, but they are experiencing it in a fragmented way," explained Dr. Crowe. She added, "What we're able to do is help them put it together, make meaning of it, and understand it, process it fully, and then be able to think about it without becoming so distressed."
The virtual therapy is so new, the counselors here are still training on it. The doctors don't just watch as their patients relive what scarred them, they help create the scene.
The computer starts with basic scenarios like a street scene in Iraq or a convoy. But while the patient does the walking or driving through it, it is the doctor who can add in helicopters, explosions, gunfire, dogs barking. Everything to make it more realistic to help the patient relive it.
There is even a machine to add smells.
"We have burning rubber, body odor, cordite, diesel fuel, weapon fire, Mid-East spice," Dr. Crowe said. "And so, we're actually working on getting a few more scents as well."
The treatment comes only after weeks of more traditional therapy for PTSD, talking about what they remember or have been trying so hard not to remember.
"It's a matter of how they think about it," said Dr. Crowe. "And so, we encourage them to think about it in a room with a trusted provider. So they know they can think about it, and it be a little bit less emotionally charged."
"It is nice to see that there are huge steps being made to help people out," a soldier told News 4 WOAI. He added, "So, it feels like people are actually staying up with it. Nobody is forgetting about how people are when they come back.
Doctors will start using the Virtual Therapy at Wilford Hall with the images of convoys and street scenes. But they hope they will soon have one to recreate what doctors, nurses and other medical personnel go through in times of war.
