Abstract
Although post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is well treatable, many people do not get the desired treatment due to barriers to care (such as stigma and cost). This paper presents a system that bridges this gap by enabling patients to follow therapy at home. A therapist is only involved remotely, to monitor progress and serve as a safety net. With this system, patients can recollect their memories in a digital diary and recreate them in a 3D WorldBuilder. Throughout the therapy, a virtual agent is present to inform and guide patients through the sessions, employing an ontology-based question module for recollecting traumatic memories to further elicit a detailed memory recollection. In a usability study with former PTSD patients (n = 4), these questions were found useful for memory recollection. Moreover, the usability of the whole system was rated positively. This system has the potential to be a valuable addition to the spectrum of PTSD treatments, offering a novel type of home therapy assisted by a virtual agent.
Highlights
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder following one or more traumatic experiences
In this paper we present 3MR version 2 (3MR_2), which incorporates several new elements such as a virtual agent and a question system for trauma recollection
The 3MR_2 system offers therapy for PTSD. It includes the exposure environments introduced in the original 3MR, namely a timeline with memories which can be both described in a digital diary and re-created in a 3D WorldBuilder
Summary
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder following one or more traumatic experiences. The 3MR_2 system offers therapy for PTSD It includes the exposure environments introduced in the original 3MR, namely a timeline with memories which can be both described in a digital diary and re-created in a 3D WorldBuilder. The 3MR_2 system introduces monitoring within the system via questionnaires, improvements to the virtual environment design and a virtual agent to guide users through therapy and assist in memory recollection It is aimed at either victims of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) or war veterans. When working on the traumatic memories, the virtual agent guides patients through filling the diary with the ontology-based question system. When asking the patient some reflective questions after building the 3D environment, the agent reminds people that they should not avoid thinking deeply about their memories.
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