Afghan war veteran, Sgt. Sammy Washington, is going back to the war zone. To hear the sounds, see the sights and feel the explosions, in a virtual reality clinic at Andrews Air Force Base.
Lt. Latoya Artis runs the practice session. Washington’s in a Humvee, heading for a bridge. The point is to re-live the worst of the war. To re-live the event that trapped a soldier into the frightening flashbacks resulting from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition that affects tens of thousands of Afghan and Iraq war returnees.
It’s an intense experience – taking troops back to a place where it was appropriate to be stressed, even to be terrified; that’s what kept them alive. But this is a safe place. Troops with PTSD realize that and that’s why this treatment works.
“Yes, it hard going through the process but once you go through the process, we are here to help support them,” says U.S. Air Force social worker, Lt. LaToya Artis.
“So they can reprocess those sights and sounds and vibration and so on but with an emotional connection of safety and security rather than fear,” says program manager, Col. Tim Lacy.
Sgt. Washington is part of the team that, at ten U.S. bases, will return troops to a virtual battlefield and try to bring them back to a life without fear.