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Virtual Reality for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

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Advances in Virtual Reality and Anxiety Disorders

Part of the book series: Series in Anxiety and Related Disorders ((SARD))

Abstract

Exposure to an incident in which an individual encounters severe physical harm or a life-threatening occurrence can leave a person with repercussions of psychological distress. Such an event becomes a mechanism for an individual’s psychological defenses to cope with a traumatic event, which will affect 60.7 % of men and 51.2 % of women at least once in their lifetime. The lifetime prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a heterogeneous disorder that may occur following a traumatic event and that may include symptoms of anxiety, arousal, dissociation, and flashbacks, is 6.8 %—about 1 out of every 15 Americans. At-risk individuals often experience symptoms of PTSD within 3 months of a trauma. The distress caused by the symptoms of PTSD can lead to depression and even suicide if left untreated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Virtual Reality Medical Center, San Diego, California, USA

    Brenda K. Wiederhold

  2. Université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, Québec, Canada

    Stéphane Bouchard

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  1. Brenda K. Wiederhold
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  2. Stéphane Bouchard
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Correspondence to Brenda K. Wiederhold .

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Wiederhold, B., Bouchard, S. (2014). Virtual Reality for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. In: Advances in Virtual Reality and Anxiety Disorders. Series in Anxiety and Related Disorders. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-8023-6_10

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