User talk:Wapatrick13/sandbox

I intend to add to the existing information about Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, specifically its efficacy and possible ethical concerns. Thus, I will be using the information from my application paper to complete this assignment.

Under the Virtual Reality Therapy article; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_reality_therapy There is a section called "Efficacy" under this section I intend to expound on the efficacy of Virtual Reality Therapy (in particular Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy) by using the following excerpt from my application paper ; One such study examined the effectiveness of Virtual Reality Therapy for combat military personnel recently returning from the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rauch, Eftekhari and Ruzek conducted a study with a sample of 42 combat servicemen who were already diagnosed with chronic PTSD. These combat servicemen were pre-screened using several different diagnostic self-reports including the PTSD military checklist, a screening tool used by the military in the determination of the intensity of the diagnosis of PTSD by measuring the presence of PTSD symptoms. Although 22 of the servicemen dropped out of the study, the results of the study concerning the 20 remaining servicemen still have merit. The servicemen were given the same diagnostic tests after the study which consisted of multiple sessions of virtual reality exposure and Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy the servicemen showed much improvement in the diagnostic scores, signaling a decrease of symptoms of PTSD. Likewise, a three-month follow-up diagnostic screening was also administered after the initial sessions that were undergone by the servicemen. The results of this study showed that 15 of the 20 participants no longer met diagnostic criteria for PTSD and improved their PTSD military checklist score by 50% for the assessment following the study. Even though only 17 of the 20 participants participated in the 3 month follow-up screening, 13 of the 17 still did not meet the criteria for PTSD and maintained their 50% improvement in the PTSD military checklist score. Negating the small size of the study, these results show promising effects and help to validate Virtual Reality Therapy as an efficacious mode of therapy for the treatment of PTSD. (McLay, et al., 2012)

I would then attempt to create another section labeled "Concerns". Under this section I would then include another excerpt from my application paper as follows; Although VRET looks promising there are a few ethical concerns that should be raised concerning the use and development of using virtual reality simulation for helping clients/patients with mental health issues, such as PTSD. One of these concerns is the potential side effects an after effects of virtual reality exposure. Some of these side effects and after effects could include cyber sickness, a type of motion sickness caused by the virtual reality experience, perceptual-motor disturbances, flashbacks, and generally lowered arousal. (Rizzo, Schultheis, & Rothbaum, 2003) If severe and widespread enough, these effects should be mitigated via various methods by those therapists using virtual reality. Another ethical issue of some concern is how virtual reality is use by clinicians in that clinicians should be certified to use virtual reality for their clients/patients. Due to the relative newness of virtual reality exposure, there may not be many clinicians who have experience with the nuances of virtual reality exposure and the therapy that virtual reality exposure is meant to be used for. According to Rizzo et. Al (2003), virtual reality technology should only be used as a tool for qualified clinicians instead of being used to further one’s practice or garner an attraction for new clients/patients. Another ethical issue is the issue of who is developing the virtual reality and thus benefiting from its sale? In terms of the development of virtual reality technology, some firms double as out-patient clinics. For example, The Virtually Better ™ virtual reality exposure therapy system originates from an outpatient clinic that uses the technology as well as other like therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Exposure Therapy. (Virtually Better Inc., 2013) Another non-scientific agenda being explored with VRET is that of the concern of the overall mental health of military personnel by the United States Department of Defense. In 2011, the Department of Defense gave researchers at Emory University School of Medicine, New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and University of Southern California an 11million dollar grant to conduct research on the two different types of exposure therapy, traditional and virtual reality, with a drug in order to treat PTSD. (Baker, 2011) Although, as with all evolving technologies and techniques in psychology, there are many other ethical concerns that could be listed these are just some of note.

These are the two main ideas that i intend to do for the wikipedia assignment.

Hi Wes, I think your plans sound fine, but you should move ahead with them and when you have a polished insert to make go ahead and publish it on the full Wikipedia page. Others will see it and may respond to it, or perhaps not, but I don't want students to wait until the last minute to try publishing their contributions. Dperkins16 (talk) 22:11, 14 April 2013 (UTC)