What’s the impact of multiple deployments and repeated traumatic stressors on service members? Why are a significant number of military personnel experiencing psychological injuries following their deployments? What treatment options are available? What’s being done to help advance the field of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychological health?

If these questions are on your mind, consider reading the special edition of “Military Medicine.” Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) subject matter experts and others share updated research to better understand current psychological health and TBI conditions affecting the health, occupational and personal functioning of service members and veterans. Published by The Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS), the journal identifies effective screening tools, diagnostic technologies and treatments for major areas of concern like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, substance use disorder and TBI.

	Spc. Brittany Williams, 7th Signal Command (Theater), prepares to reassemble her rifle for the react to contact lane, during the Signal Command’s Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Year competition in 2010. (U.S. Army photo)

Do you know a woman who is in the military or is a veteran? Wonder if her psychological health needs are different than those of men? Researchers are focusing on gender differences related to military psychological health, identifying interesting results. For instance, let’s look at posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as it relates to military women.

PTSD is a psychological health disorder that gets a lot of attention in the military community. It includes the experience of a traumatic event, followed by symptoms that impair an individual’s ability to function. These include re-experiencing the traumatic event, persistent avoidance of things associated with the trauma, feeling numb, and new feelings of increased physiological arousal (such as increased startle reflex, difficulty with sleep or irritability).

	U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Renae Kleckner

A service member puts on a headset with a screen for each eye. He’s given a joystick that’s built with low-frequency vibrations and sounds, mirroring the vehicle he drove while on the battlefield. As he navigates through the virtual combat world, his head movements are tracked with an orientation system. Pre-fabricated smells mimicking burning rubber and weapons firing are released into the air, and the service member ventures into virtual war.

This is the new Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) being studied by National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2), a Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury center. T2 is currently researching this therapy, which places service members face-to-face with their unique experiences on the battlefield to help treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to help service members process memories. Once the study is completed, this unique treatment will be offered to service members and veterans.

	Subject matter experts and developers at National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2) work together to create mobile apps for members of the military community. (T2 photo by Bill Wheeler)

At the National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2), a Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) center, psychologists and technology developers work together to create innovative products that help users address psychological health and traumatic brain injury concerns. I asked T2 experts, Dr. Nancy Kao Rhiannon, research psychologist, and Roger Reeder, senior developer for mobile applications, to tell us a little bit about how their collaborative process brings new products to life.

Q: How does the creative process for new products begin? Can it start with either the psychologist or the developer?

Rhiannon: Typically, one of our subject matter experts (SME) shares a concept for a product meant to benefit service members. There’s a lot of interplay between the SME and the developer. While the SME may have the idea and how it can be applied, the developer is the one who actually makes the technology work.

	(Courtesy photo of National Center for Telehealth & Technology)

Stewart is a program manager with the Innovative Technology Applications Division (ITA) at the National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2). In addition to managing the testing of projects run through T2's Technology Enhancement Center (TEC), she is a key contributor to several ITA projects focused on leveraging technology to support warriors, veterans and military families.

This past year, I’ve had the pleasure to be the government lead overseeing the development and launch of the Technology Enhancement Center, a state-of-the-art usability lab here at the National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. T2 focuses on creating technologic solutions for service members around mental health and well-being, and created this lab to make sure our products are easy for them to learn and be effective in the real world.