Veterans suffering from PTSD can visit virtual Chicoma Island for help

Veterans suffering from PTSD can visit virtual Chicoma Island for help
By Bob Brewin 09/01/2009

View slideshow of veteran visiting Chicoma Lodge in Second Life.

Combat veterans rarely talk about their most searing hidden emotions and thoughts caused by their experiences in battle, a reticence that can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles is near completing Coming Home, a virtual world in Second Life that its creators hope will help break down the barriers to PTSD treatment, said Jacquelyn Morie, a project leader at ICT.

The institute developed a virtual world that features immersive therapy, which mental health professionals can use to treat Iraq combat veterans suffering form PTSD called Virtual Iraq. The site includes a virtual Iraqi village that veterans can walk through.

ICT initially planned to use the village in Second Life, but in a recent paper that Morie wrote, a veteran told her that he found the Iraqi village "disturbingly realistic, and he did not believe that any veteran should be allowed to explore the village without a therapist at his side."
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