Digital Nation Paper

 After finishing Digital Nation, I found myself continuously replaying the scene with the war veteran using virtual reality technology to help him cope with his post traumatic stress disorder he was suffering. Coming from a military family in which my own father has done multiple tours overseas I have seen the effects that PTSD can have on a person. My father complained about hearing noises that actually weren't occurring during the night because he was not used to the calm sounds of the forest that are more prevalent at our home. Also if he heard a gun shot remotely within close to our home he would be down on the ground instantly in the ready position looking for his gun. Both of these are examples of the things that coming out of the high stress environment that is the warfront and into the western civilization can do. These actions were involuntary and ruined his everyday life back here stateside because his mind was still on the warfront. And so since this topic is of relevance to me I wanted to investigate it further to see what the military is doing to aid these soldiers within the realm of the virtual technology discussed in the documentary.

In an article written by Salvatore Salamone on the new virtual reality therapy for soldiers he states that, “using the system, the medical professionals can re-create a combat situation such as an attack, an explosion or an ambush, and help the veteran work through the elements of that situation that triggered the stress.” By recreating the traumatic event the therapists are able to confront the problem head on. All of the patients were severely scarred mentally from a traumatic event while fighting in the war, which is the root of the problem. This confrontational method may seem like it may cause more pain to the patient when in reality it is the most effective way to help them realize the event and move on. In the article Salamone uses an example of another experience that my require this type of therapy to get through. He describes an event where a child may be bitten by a dog and therefore develops a fear for all dogs. And so instead of avoiding them all together the therapist has the child interact with dogs in a controlled safe environment until they are comfortable with them again. By placing a soldier in a virtual environment they hope to replace the traumatic memory with a less stressful one.

But is this method working? In another study conducted by Cornell University Weill Medical College instructor Joanne Difede, Ph.D., she used virtual reality to help victims who survived the 9/11 attacks to cope with the PTSD symptoms they were experiencing. In her studies she found that, “there was an 83 percent reduction in depressive symptoms and a 90 percent reduction in PTSD symptoms.” And so these patients used this type of therapy in a non war related setting and also saw successful results. This seems to be a very successful and logical program for the military to use. In Salamone's article he states that there are already dozens of these types of labs and recovery centers using virtual reality at VA's across the nation. But what does this say about our dependence on technology to fix our problems?

If we require technology to recreate a traumatic experience just so we can get over it, is that necessarily the smartest investment for our society to be making? While it is helping veterans work through their problems it also in some ways eliminates jobs and or requires our psychologists to pick up an entirely new way of doing business. The military is almost always one step ahead of society with its technologies since they have the resources. But does this mean that this virtual reality therapy will soon enough be commercialized and soon be seen in offices and homes around the country? Only time will tell that but it would not help us to be less dependent on technology that's for sure. If we let our technologies take care of our mental states as well we are allowing them to control what we remember and what we suppress. With PTSD the virtual reality is bringing back a suppressed memory and trying to replace it with a less stressful one. Just as we saw in the documentary with the child swimming with the whales, the technology has the power to replace our truest memories and give them a new version. There is no way this can be healthy for us, is it?

As for my father, he is doing fine now but he went through traditional therapy to get to this point. I personally believe this is the best type of therapy because it allows the therapist to understand the full spectrum of what is going on in the persons mind on a personal level. While the virtual reality method may be quicker I'm unsure if I believe it is as effective or long lasting as traditional treatment. In my opinion technology is working towards making us a lazier and faster world community. Is this necessary? That is my question. What was so wrong with the way the world was before the iPhone, before this virtual reality therapy, before all of this excessive technology overload? It didn't seem that bad to me. All of these machines are trying to make a mundane task easier for us, but why does it need to be easier. So we save time to get to doing other mundane tasks? To get to use some other form of technology to help us there too? When do we slow down and take a good look at our lives to evaluate what is necessary and what is just in the way of the natural thought process. If this is the way our world is headed and inevitably will end up I think I am going to find it harder and harder to live life in a technologically controlled world and still find time to see the world for its natural beauty as well. Everything is being replaced, every task, every type of work, every word is being shortened, reworked or reinvented to fit this newer society that I'm unsure is a better one than what we had before. And wasn't that the intention of reinventing it in the first place?

Articles I got my references from:

http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/39/13/45.1.full

http://www.smartertechnology.com/c/a/Smarter-Strategies/Its-No-Game-DOD-Uses-Virtual-Reality-to-Treat-PTSD/