For Some Combat Veterans, Second Life Used For PTSD Therapy "Working when nothing else has”, Ret. Lt. Col. Says

A few months ago, I wrote about how military veterans were forming large Second Life support groups, in large part as a way to help each other recover from post-traumatic stress disorder. (This in addition to the SL outreach by real world veteran organizations like Disabled American Veterans -- .pdf bulletin about their Second Life efforts here.) At the time it struck me as an awesome and undeniably valuable application of SL. After all, some vets are uncomfortable about discussing their PTSD in public for many reasons, and are often physically disabled and/or live in remote areas, making it logistically difficult for them to commune in person with fellow service people.  In these cases and others, a virtual community of avatars embodied in a shared space seemed like an ideal solution.

That intuition was recently confirmed by an individual infinitely more qualified to speak on the subject: retired Marine Lt. Col. Jay Kopelman, who's now director of the vet support organization Freedom Is Not Free. In a speech at East Carolina University, which is experimenting with SL as a PSTD treatment platform, Kopelman addressed the subject of Second Life as a therapy tool: “I know Marines that say that Second Life is working when nothing else has," he said.  Often SL is touted for various real world applications, but by people already vested in the metaverse, so some skepticism is warranted.  (That includes, of course, me.)  But I'm far more inclined to take at face value an endorsement from someone whose interest isn't virtual worlds per se, but in helping vets.  And sad to say, as service members keep returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, often after multiple tours, it's an application we're likely to see more of, in coming years.

Comments

[Paisley Raven]

I've recently started living a Second Life (only in the wee hours, mind you) and the potential for RL application continues to astound me. I am thrilled to see I'm not alone in trying to break this most versatile on SIMs out of the box such "games" are shoved into.
My baby (he's 20) brother is in Iraq. If I could talk with him in SL, to be sure he was OK, I wouldn't spend so many days unable to watch the news reports from over there.

~Raven
AKA:
PaisleyRaven Foxclaw (SL AV)

[T_S_Kimball]

Good to hear that something is making headway in the healing process for our troops, when its needed.

Remember that its not just PTSD which SL helps with; The Support for Healing group has been involved for some time on helping others, including scheduled therapy sessions. It's turned out to be a natural and more comfortable extension of their website and forum.

[Yes, I donate there from time to time, but do not have any direct interests there, other than knowing firsthand how hard it is to cope with a shattered/battered mind.]

--TSK
Tim Kimball
inSL as Alan Kiesler

[Kristen]

PTSD is very real and very serious. I can see how it would affect veterans especially. I found a book that I think can really help those who suffer from it. It's called No Open Wounds-Heal Traumatic Stress Now. This book presents beautifully and illustratively over 20 years of the author’s experience to assist you in closing your “open wounds”.