Military experiment seeks to predict PTSD

[unhappycamper]

Marine Pfc. Jesse Sheets, of Newark, Del., sits in an eye blink study room with sensors attached to his face while taking psychological tests at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., in September. The U.S. government is testing hundreds of Marines and soldiers before they ship out, in search of clues that might help predict who is most susceptible to PTSD.


Military experiment seeks to predict PTSD
By ALICIA CHANG
AP Science Writer
Nov 20, 3:17 AM EST

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (AP) -- Two days before shipping off to war, Marine Pfc. Jesse Sheets sat inside a trailer in the Mojave Desert, his gaze fixed on a computer that flashed a rhythmic pulse of contrasting images.

Smiling kids embracing a soldier. A dog sniffing blood oozing from a corpse. Movie star Cameron Diaz posing sideways in a midriff top. Troops cowering for safety during an ambush.

A doctor tracked his stress levels and counted the number of times he blinked. Electrode wires dangled from his left eye and right pinky finger.

Sheets is part of a military experiment to try to predict who's most at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder. Understanding underlying triggers might help reduce the burden of those who return psychologically wounded - if they can get early help.

PTSD is a crippling condition that can emerge after a terrifying event - car accident, sexual assault, terrorist attack or combat. It's thought to affect as many as one in five veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.


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