Terror by degree in PTSD

I've posted about virtual reality therapy in the past but hesitantly. I think we all need to stay open to new ideas. The problem I had with it has been pointed out on this article.

There are different levels of this wound, just as their are burns by degrees, there are PTSD wounds by degrees. Some veterans find they just need a little reassurance to get through this and begin to heal, while others, again as pointed in article, as well as countless times on this blog, some go into deeper wounds.

My husband is in the 90% range. Like most Vietnam veterans, they didn't receive any help for a decade or more. For him it was over 20 years after his return. There are things he can tolerate but many more he cannot. To this day, he has not been able to go to the Vietnam Memorial Wall, but we do go to the traveling walls. Even they cause him distress.

Knowing Jack, knowing veterans from all across the country, this article points out the problems with virtual reality therapy. They need to know what levels are helped and what levels are harmed before they go off and do this as a one size fits all cure. For some it may help but for others, it is just terror by degrees.


PTSD: VA's Current Snow Job
Dr. Phillip Leveque Salem-News.com
Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician, Toxicologist and Pharmacologist.
US Marines. Photo: NATO
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - I had the dubious experience to watch and listen to the VA's new treatment for PTSD, "virtual reality", on ABC local news in Portland, Oregon. I was both fascinated and outraged.
Two doctors were directing the "experiment" of treating soldiers with "terror movies". One was Capt. Greg Reger, a psychologist who was manning the computer/player. The other was a civilian, Dr. Miles McFall of Seattle, Washington. It wasn't stated if he was a physician. He told the news reporter he was an expert on PTSD.
With the VA and the Army both admitting their treatment of PTSD veterans was a colossal failure, I can't imagine any doctor admitting he was involved in the colossal failure of the treatments.
go here for the rest
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/december032007/ptsd_120207.php