Abstract
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a chronic, debilitating, psychological condition that occurs in a subset of individuals who experience or witness life-threatening traumatic events. This chapter describes the underlying theoretical foundations and existing research on virtual reality exposure therapy (VRE), a recently emerging treatment for PTSD. Three virtual reality scenarios used to treat PTSD in combat veterans and survivors of terrorism – Virtual Vietnam, Virtual Iraq, and BusWorld – are presented, along with a case study of an individual treated using BusWorld. The future of VRE and its potential for use with telemedicine and the Internet for treatment of PTSD are also discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Internet Use in the Aftermath of Trauma |
| Editors | A. Brunet, A. R. Ashbaugh, C. F. Herbert |
| Place of Publication | Amsterdam |
| Publisher | IOS Press |
| Pages | 269-284 |
| State | Published - 2010 |