The Hill’s Brad Dress spoke with veterans who are benefiting from new technology in their recovery from PTSD. 

Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Tonya Oxendine, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is one of thousands of veterans who are already using VR to treat PTSD as the technology picks up attention across the nation. 

The 58-year-old credits VR as a major part of her recovery, with the technology returning her to Afghanistan to deal with her memories in a new light through a treatment called prolonged exposure. 

The idea of prolonged exposure is to re-experience troubling memories, which VR can help unlock in ways not possible before, bringing veterans back to the inside of a Humvee in Iraq or into the jungles of Vietnam.   

Afterward, veterans can debrief and employ cognitive therapy, learning to process the memories in a new and hopefully better way, while in a safe and controlled environment. The goal is to change how they feel about the memory instead of avoiding it in constant fear. 

At some point in their life, 15 percent of both Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans will experience PTSD, the VA says. That number is 21 percent of the Gulf War and 10 percent for the Vietnam war. About 7 percent of all veterans will experience PTSD.

Dallas-based Mynd Immersive is one of the companies working with VR for veterans. Mynd has 500 headsets in nearly 100 long-term veteran care facilities and says it has the largest private VR network for veterans in the country, if not the world.  

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) partners with Mynd, saying in a statement to The Hill that its relationship with the company allows staff and veterans to work with “designing and developing solutions” on PTSD treatment.  

“It’s crucial to involve veterans and VA staff as they are the end-users of the technology. By understanding and addressing the issues from their perspectives, it can lead to a transformative impact,” the agency said.