First to Use VR for Suicide Prevention

A new suicide prevention virtual reality simulator is trying to help put US Air Force airmen in the shoes of their buddies at a rough time in their lives.

Leaders from the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base took part in a suicide prevention virtual reality training test phase last month. Currently, only base leadership, squadron commanders, superintendents and first sergeants at Travis and Scott Air Force Bases tried out the VR program, but the plan is to roll out the training to all airmen at those bases this spring.

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Air Mobility Command also hopes to distribute a version of the VR training program for the spouses of airmen.

The 30-minute training involves participants in a scenario in which they interact, via a VR headset, with a person who is in obvious emotional distress. The goal is for the participant to convince the distressed person to get help. If participants don’t ask the distressed person the right questions to prompt them to get help, a training coach chimes in to assist the participant.

“It’s voice-activated, so you’re required to say things out loud that maybe you’ve never had to say before,” said Master Sgt. Shawn Dougherty, a VR training facilitator at Travis. “Actually saying phrases like ‘do you have a gun in the house’ or ‘are you thinking about harming yourself.’ We’ve seen over this week, even with squadron leadership, saying uncomfortable phrases like that, they actually say them quieter than other phrases that they’re more comfortable with. “

“While immersed, I felt as if I was in the room with the individual in the VR program. Afterwards, I had to collect myself,” wrote one airman on a popular social media page. “I believe the new approach is going to be a good way to deliver a heart-wrenching subject in a way to negate the PowerPoint and Charlie Brown-teacher style of trainings.”

The Air Force continues to struggle with a suicide crisis in the ranks; a record 137 airmen and civilians died by suicide in 2019, and reportedly had 131 cases of suspected suicide in 2020, 82 of which were active duty.

A Pentagon Inspector General report released in August found that seven of 13 military medical treatment facilities did not meet mental health access standards, and an average of 53% of all active-duty service members and their families referred to mental health care did not receive mental health care.

The VR software developer is Moth + Flame, a New York-based specialist in immersive platforms deploying experiential content.

Initial feedback studies are also reporting 98% of leaders at Scott and Travis said they would recommend the training in their respective units, and 93% said VR training would be more effective than traditional training programs.

Brig. Gen. Norman West, Air Mobility Command surgeon general, said, “The VR scenario is very realistic and this is the type of training we need to save lives in the real world. One life lost to suicide is too many.”

“AMC is preoccupied with suicide, predicting duress, modeling and intervening at our earliest opportunity,” West added. “The VR training increases our sensitivity to the subtleties and sub-threshold warnings necessary to make a positive difference. This is a family affair.”