After nearly a decade at war, the United States is starting to understand the significant human costs of war after engagement. Military members that have completed their active duty, or even been placed on furlough, have returned to the States with horrific emotional scarring as a result of their combat experiences. Called “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” (PTSD), the psychological condition is characterized by an array of symptoms ranging from sleeplessness or nightmares to panic attacks and violent behavior. PTSD has even been blamed for deviant behaviors like drug addiction, homicide and suicide. According to Heal My PTSD, a support website, over 300,000 present and former service members suffer from PTSD, or 20% of the entire population of the armed services. Recent breakthroughs, however, may have an answer for victims of PTSD.

The U.S. Army has been, by far, the most heavily effected by PTSD, with a significant majority of cases coming from Army service men and women. For that reason, the Army has funded a new project called “Power Dreaming”, in which digitally rendered, soothing, and happy “dreams” are created in a virtual world. Over 50% of combat veterans with PTSD report having nightmarish dreams frequently, which can have psychosomatic manifestations in their waking lives. “Power Dreams” are soothing and positive, and will be viewed immediately after a patient experiences a nightmare to counteract its negative emotional impact. After a patient has a nightmare, they will open a laptop or tablet, or don 3-D goggles, and watch these soothing virtual dreams. A new twist on biofeedback therapy, the U.S. Army has recently invested over $500,000 in the projects development and implementation.

Biofeedback therapy is an area of behavior modification in which people conscientiously try to calm or redirect their emotional state through manipulating their physical state. For instance, teaching women controlled breathing during birth is a form of biofeedback therapy. However, for people in particularly intense emotional states, such as a PTSD-induced panic attack brought on by stress-induced nightmares, it’s not always possible for an individual to visualize on their own. For that reason, allowing soldiers and veterans to create their own customized virtual dreams allows them to quickly engage in the soothing and positive imagery. In fact, taking cues from popular online simulator Second Life, participants will actually create whole worlds and customizable avatars in which to navigate their “dream”. In this way they are able to “distract” themselves from the stress-induced visions and physical symptoms of them.

There are security implications for service members needing this kind of biofeedback therapy during active duty. There are limitations on the use of removable hard-drives and downloadable applications on military hardware because of cyber-security concerns. However, for individuals that have fulfilled the terms of their deployment, “Power Dreaming” could be an invaluable piece to a service member’s often difficult transition back to a civilian life.