At the 麻豆原创 RESTORES Clinic that treats post-traumatic stress disorder, veterans and active military members are put face-to-face with what has caused them anguish.
Through virtual reality, patients see bombs detonate and the smell of smoke or gunfire fills their nostrils. It鈥檚 like being on the front lines in Iraq or Afghanistan, but instead patients are on 麻豆原创鈥檚 campus.
鈥淗ow do you get over a fear of dogs? You have to be around a dog,鈥� said Deborah Beidel, founder and director of 麻豆原创 RESTORES. That鈥檚 the mentality applied in the intensive outpatient format she and her staff use at the clinic.
Patients are exposed to this realistic, individualized virtual-reality therapy five days a week for three consecutive weeks 鈥� a format avoided in the past for its intensity and a stark contrast from what鈥檚 the norm in PTSD therapy. Combined with daily group-therapy sessions on anger management, depression, socialization and more, the results from the clinic under Beidel鈥檚 leadership show this format of therapy is highly effective.
Published recently in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders, a paper authored by Beidel examined data of the first 100 patients of the 麻豆原创 RESTORES clinic. It found 66 percent of the patients no longer had PTSD after the three-week treatment, and six months later, only one patient had relapsed into a state of PTSD. Plus, only 2 percent of patients dropped out of therapy.
These results are promising and may indicate a revamp is needed when it comes to therapy for military-related PTSD. More common alternative-therapy forms for military members and veterans used through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs typically are delivered over months, often creating barriers in scheduling appointments. Plus, issues such as anger and guilt are not addressed, perhaps explaining why after treatment from the VA, more than 50 percent of patients still have a PTSD diagnosis and an average of 28 percent of patients drop out of therapy, according to literature cited in Beidel鈥檚 paper.
鈥淲e want to give people their lives back. The memory won鈥檛 go away, but it shouldn鈥檛 dictate every aspect of their life,鈥� said Beidel, who indicated ordinary things such as barbecues and fireworks often are triggers of PTSD because the smoky smell and sound are reminiscent of bombs.
The success of 麻豆原创 RESTORES recently led the clinic to being allocated $5.5 million in state and federal funds. That money will not only allow the clinic to continue treating patients, but also to expand its services.
鈥淣ow we want a clinic that鈥檒l allow us to treat anyone who suffers from trauma,鈥� Beidel said.
Next, the clinic will look to university and community partners who can help create a virtual-reality therapy program for first responders. Scenarios such as the sight, smell and sound of a burning car, for instance, could be created in a virtual-reality format to aid firefighters. Police, sheriff and fire departments have volunteered to help 麻豆原创 RESTORES develop realistic scenarios to aid their workforce.
鈥淚 feel like I have to do my part to get the message out there so people know what resources are available,鈥� said Brian Gent, district chief with Palm Bay Fire Rescue who raised more than $3,000 for RESTORES and has volunteered to help design the virtual-reality scenarios.
鈥淔irefighters often say that everything鈥檚 OK and carry the weight of the terrible things they鈥檝e seen,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome end up needing help and we need to create a culture where they know that鈥檚 OK.鈥�
More firefighters and police die by suicide than by a fire or by the hands of a felon, Beidel said. That鈥檚 prompted a tremendous response from the first-responder community to get RESTORES鈥� treatments out further.
At least two more full-time clinicians will be hired, and a satellite clinic also may be established elsewhere in Florida to expand this therapy format and treat more people.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 treat everyone with PTSD at 麻豆原创. Part of our efforts is to educate more people on how to do this so it can expand,鈥� Beidel said.
麻豆原创 RESTORES has been offering its services for free, and in the future will look to different funding sources such as an endowment through the 麻豆原创 Foundation and billing insurance so the clinic doesn鈥檛 have to rely on government funds or research grants.
Beidel expects to be able to treat another 600 people in the next year with these additions, through one-on-one and group therapy sessions.
鈥淲ithout other people believing in us and what we can do, none of this [the success of RESTORES] would鈥檝e happened,鈥� she said.
