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Life & Times Transcript
08/29/05 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- The horror of war doesn't always end when a soldier comes home. Can virtual reality help heal the invisible wounds? Joshua Frey>> I go back to that repeatedly, but I'm always getting captured by insurgents and then they'll torture me and do a bunch of things. It focuses on my arm a lot and I wake up in severe pain and sweating. Val Zavala>> And then, are these mummies hiding clues to the afterlife? It turns out that the secrets of ancient Egypt aren't all about treasure. It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> Nearly one in five soldiers fighting in Iraq will come home with post traumatic stress syndrome and the Veterans Administration will have to treat thousands of cases. Now the conventional therapy is counseling or medication, but now there is a new tool, one that puts the soldiers through the trauma again, only this time in virtual reality. Sam Louie went to San Diego to find out more. [Film Clip] Sam Louie>> Being in combat is one of the most stressful experiences anyone can go through, even for a trained Marine like Private First Class Joshua Frey. Joshua Frey>> It was just intense combat. I'd never expected it to be like that, but as soon as you got right into the city, RPGs were coming at you, there's rounds coming across your head and you just hear it. It was crazy. Sam Louie>> Frey is with the Third Battalion First Marines out of Camp Pendleton. The twenty-eight year old fought in Fallujah for more than half a year. He returned to California last December after getting shot in his right shoulder. Joshua Frey>> It went in right here and it blew everything out the back. It was like a huge hole out of my back shoulder. Sam Louie>> Frey now undergoes physical therapy for his injuries at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, but the experience left deep emotional scars as well. Joshua Frey>> I go back to that repeatedly, but I'm always getting captured by insurgents and then they'll torture me and do a bunch of things. It focuses on my arm a lot and I'll wake up in severe pain and sweating. Sam Louie>> During his brief tour in Iraq, Frey also had to deal with the death of a friend, twenty-five year old Josh Dickinson killed in a fire fight. When he returned, Frey was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Joshua Frey>> It hits home. It's real hard. I get angry. I get real angry. I hate everybody and I hate the world and I just want everybody to leave me alone. Sam Louie>> The government estimates that eighteen percent of American troops in Iraq will suffer from PTSD. Dr. Jim Spira is a staff psychologist at the Naval Medical Center. He's been treating post traumatic stress disorder in Iraqi war veterans since the first Gulf War. Dr. Jim Spira>> In our current conflict, you can be asleep in a very well fortified zone and be shelled at any time, so it can be very disruptive. So in a way, it's more conducive to developing post traumatic stress problems. Sam Louie>> In the past, doctors would treat PTSD with individual or group counseling with limited success. But now Dr. Spira is testing a new and hopefully more effective technique using virtual reality. It's designed to simulate warlike conditions. Dr. Jim Spira>> This screen shows what the patient is able to see. They can walk around and hear the footsteps. Sam Louie>> Before the virtual reality therapy begins, Dr. Spira attaches sensors to the patient's fingertips and wrists. Dr. Jim Spira>> This measures the skin conductors for how cold and clammy the hands get. Sam Louie>> The vital signs are transmitted to a computer where Dr. Spira can closely monitor a person's heart rate, their breathing and temperature and, once the Marines put on a pair of specialized goggles, they're transported into a computerized world of Fallujah. Dr. Jim Spira>> There are quite a bit of things that we can control here on these screens. Sam Louie>> Dr. Spira can increase the intensity of the experience by adding more elements. Dr. Jim Spira>> We have helicopters landing, explosions off in the background. Sam Louie>> Spira says he'll gradually throw in more stimuli until he notices a change in the patient's reaction. [Film Clip] Dr. Jim Spira>> We try and customize to find what elements are going to be most threatening to the individual so they can learn to be in control over those elements. Sam Louie>> Once he finds a trigger that raises the anxiety level in his patients, Dr. Spira steps in. Dr. Jim Spira>> Their hands get colder and clammier, heart rate races. You can tell from certain components of their heart rate, their ability to worry more, to more distress. We say, okay, at this point, just pause and calm yourself down and relax. Sam Louie>> Joshua Frey is among the first group of Marines from Iraq to undergo this type of therapy. Dr. Jim Spira>> "Think about those things that were most disturbing to you, the death of a buddy." Joshua Frey>> Some of the most disturbing things were not knowing if you're going to blow up that day. Sam Louie>> Although a patient is re-experiencing trauma, it gives Dr. Spira an opportunity to intervene and guide Frey to a more relaxed state. Dr. Jim Spira>> "You notice what's going on around you, but you let that be off in the distance. You just let that go and return to an awareness of your breath slowing down." Sam Louie>> This virtual reality therapy is in the testing phase. If it proves effective, it will be used at Camp Pendleton and possibly overseas. The virtual reality software used to treat post traumatic stress disorder was developed by researchers here at the USC Institute for Creative Technology. Dr. Skip Rizzo and Jarrell Pair are the two research scientists in charge of the project. Dr. Skip Rizzo>> Virtual reality is actually a psychologist's dream. It's the ability to build simulated environments and put a person in them and be able to observe or measure performance under a range of stimulus conditions. Sam Louie>> The virtual reality program is an offshoot of an earlier project they developed, the X-Box video game, "Full Spectrum Warrior". [Film Clip] Sam Louie>> Originally designed as a training tool for the Army, the realistic computer graphics gave the researchers a foundation to build a new system for PTSD. Jarrell Pair>> We have access to the, you know, source code and the art work from this game and, because we're able to reuse the assets from the "Full Spectrum Warrior" game, we're able to build scenarios very quickly at an affordable cost. Sam Louie>> As a part of their relationship with the military, the group also builds life-sized simulations with large flat screen televisions. Jarrell Pair>> "We have a lot of control over this city to create a very convincing immersive experience. For example, we can fly these helicopters by." From a patient, just the sound of mortar coming out of the tube is enough to reintroduce a trauma to the point where effective therapy can take place. Sam Louie>> While it's too early to tell how effective this is, both Dr. Spira and Marines like Josh Frey believe it's working. Dr. Jim Spira>> Nightmares come far less frequently, if at all. They don't have angry outbursts. They don't try and self-medicate through alcohol or other means. So we're finding that, so far, it's a very successful treatment. Joshua Frey>> I really didn't open up like I have been and I'm willing to talk about it and be more open about it and know that I do have a problem. Sam Louie>> Thousands of other soldiers like Frey will be coming home from Iraq with post traumatic stress disorder and, with more tools for doctors to help them with therapy, the easier the adjustment for soldiers and their families. So in the end, revisiting the trauma in virtual therapy could be the key to real recovery. I'm Sam Louie for Life and Times. Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org and click on "Life and Times". Toni Guinyard>> Mental illness is one of those topics most people feel very uncomfortable talking about, but author Bebe Moore Campbell has just written about it and its impact on one Los Angeles area family. She shared a little time with Life and Times telling us the story behind the story of "72 Hour Hold". Let's start with the title, "72 Hour Hold". Where does that come from? Bebe Moore Campbell>> 72 hour hold refers to the length of time that a psychiatric facility, a hospital, can hold a mentally ill person against his or her will if he or she meets the criteria for the hold. The criteria is that he's a danger to himself or he's a danger to others or he's gravely disabled. Toni Guinyard>> In reading the book, the first thing I thought of is why would you want to write anything about the mentally ill, especially in a work of fiction? Bebe Moore Campbell>> I have a mentally ill family member, so write what you know. I've been on this journey for about eight or nine years and it's been down in the depths of being stigmatized, being ashamed, to rising above that, to forming a support group with other women, and then getting involved with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Toni Guinyard>> Which came first? Dealing with your loved one who had a mental illness -- Bebe Moore Campbell>> -- has a mental illness. Toni Guinyard>> Has a mental illness, and thank you for correcting me. Why did you correct me? Bebe Moore Campbell>> Because these illnesses are not curable. They're controllable with the proper medical regimen which, all due respect to Dr. Tom Cruise, includes psychotropic drugs a lot of times and psychotherapy. So they can get better, but there's no cure. Toni Guinyard>> You learn by reading your book. Is that part of why you wrote the book? To teach us? Or was it therapeutic for you? Bebe Moore Campbell>> I think my therapy came before I wrote the book, although there's a part of the book that I think was therapeutic for me. This is a story about a mother, Carrie, who's seeking healing for her mentally ill child. She becomes frustrated with the mental health system and she opts to become a radical, to get involved with radicals. During my journey with my mentally ill loved one, I got very frustrated with the health mental system and I really was looking around for some radicals who could help me find some solutions (laughter). I couldn't find any, so I just created it for this work. So that was therapeutic. Toni Guinyard>> Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Bebe Moore Campbell>> Yeah, and you will get enjoyment in the book. I mean, there is humor. There are places where you're going to laugh out loud. The woman is caught up in a love triangle. I mean, it's spicy and juicy. She's just got a mentally ill loved one, as many people who have spicy, juicy lives have mentally ill loved ones. So Carrie has friends, she's got a business, she's got it going on and she's trying to keep it going on. But at the same time, she's trying to care for this mentally ill child and she's doing that. She's balancing, she's juggling, just like we all do in life. Toni Guinyard>> This book steps on everything. We're talking about mentally ill, we're talking about alcoholism to a certain degree, homosexuality. Is there anything you left untouched? Bebe Moore Campbell>> (Laughter) What didn't I talk about? I didn't talk about the war in Iraq (laughter). Toni Guinyard>> That's about the only thing that isn't in this book. Why did you think you had to cover everything? Bebe Moore Campbell>> Well, I mean, I didn't cover everything. Carrie has a mother who's an alcoholic, so she's got scars from her childhood. Her boyfriend's son has his own secret and his own issues and he entrusts them with Carrie. This is life. Life is complicated. She can't just be somebody who's going to work and then just dealing with this mentally ill child because there's more going on in her life than that. Life doesn't allow you that easy a trip. You know, life is quite a journey dealing with a mentally ill relative. Toni Guinyard>> What do you hope people will take away once reading this book? Bebe Moore Campbell>> Well, I hope that people begin to be stigma busters, take the word crazy out of their vocabulary, recognize that, if you stay in denial, there can be no healing, there can be no recovery, there can be no control of these illnesses if you deny that you have them or if the family member denies that the loved ones has these illnesses. One of the reasons I wrote the book -- and there's a support group that plays a paramount role in the story -- is because I urge family members to get support. It is tough and there are no perfect rainbow endings, but I think if family members support themselves, they can get through this journey and not lose their joy. You know, as they say in the airplane, put the mask over your mouth first. So the group like NAMI, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, is really something there that helps the family member as well as the mentally ill person. There's a support group for family members. There's an education course for family members that's free that teaches people all about these illness and how to cope. Toni Guinyard>> Why is this such a taboo subject in the African-American community specifically? Bebe Moore Campbell>> Because we're already stigmatized. We're stigmatized by virtue of the color of our skin, or so we feel. So to add something else that is wrong, we just don't want to do that. The other reason that I think African-Americans are more reticent about getting help is because we don't trust that medical community. We remember Tuskegee and we shouldn't forget it because there are lots of misdiagnoses, but no diagnosis is worse because what happens is, we're already disproportionately incarcerated and a mentally ill person who doesn't have treatment is really looking for a go straight to jail card. Toni Guinyard>> But in a work of fiction like this is, do you not end up not inviting people from other backgrounds, other cultures, other ethnic groups, by saying let's focus on this in the African-American community? Bebe Moore Campbell>> No, because she's got a friend. Carrie is the mother and Carrie's friend, Bethany, is white and Bethany also has a daughter who has a mental illness. My characters are a mix. I don't want to give the false impression that any community is dealing well with this. We all need some help with it, but I think communities of color feel more stigmatized. They really do and are having a tougher time. And a lot of it, you know, we're under-insured or don't have insurance, so we can't afford the best treatment options. So that's more reason that it's imperative to link up with groups like NAMI so that we can find out what resources there are that are available in the community. There are lots of success stories and I think we need to hear more about them. It's not just "A Beautiful Mind". There are lots of beautiful minds out there. Toni Guinyard>> Well, Bebe Moore Campbell, I think you have opened the door for a lot of people to start talking about this, and thank you for spending some time with Life and Times. Bebe Moore Campbell>> Thank you. To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val Zavala>> What would an exhibit of Egyptian antiquities be without mummies? Well, now there are more than a dozen mummies on display at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana on loan from the British Museum. Orange County reporter, Roger Cooper, takes us inside to take a look at the Egyptian obsession with death and the afterlife. [Film Clip] Roger Cooper>> Dr. Peter Keller, President of the Bowers Museum, and currently the home to quite an exhibit. What's it called, Doctor? Dr. Peter Keller>> It's called Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt. Roger Cooper>> This is all from the British Museum? Dr. Peter Keller>> Correct. It's one of the largest collections of Egyptian material outside of Cairo. Most of the material in this exhibition has never before been seen. In fact, one of the more fun jobs I've ever had was to go with the curators literally into the basement, the bowels of the British Museum, this great 250 year old museum, and select the objects for this exhibition. Roger Cooper>> And look what you have selected. This is big. Dr. Peter Keller>> This is almost five thousand pounds and, believe it or not, it's a sarcophagus cover made out of basalt. It came over on a United Airlines passenger plane and, yes, he did have first class. This actually is the inner sarcophagus cover, so there was one larger than this that was buried fifty feet down. Roger Cooper>> Tomb raiders have their work cut out for them. Dr. Peter Keller>> They certainly did in getting him out of the hole. [Film Clip] Roger Cooper>> Peter, this is a boat from the British Museum and now at the Bowers. Dr. Peter Keller>> It's a soul boat which is actually transporting the mummy in his afterlife across the Nile. The Nile pretty well divided the country. All the dead were actually buried on the west side of the Nile. If you died on the east side of the Nile, you needed to be taken into your afterlife and physically into your tomb on a boat across the Nile. This is depicting the priest with his text blessing you as you're going across and the guardians, perhaps Isis and Osiris, taking the ride with you as well. Of course, you have the protective eye on the bow of the boat. [Film Clip] Roger Cooper>> And in this room, a rather old looking piece of wood here. Dr. Peter Keller>> This is actually the best of our several coffins that we have in the exhibition. This, of course, would have been the inner coffin that actually held the mummy. The mummy would have been put -- you notice it's kind of narrow -- the mummy would be put in sideways with his eyes looking out through the actual eyes you'll see on the outside of the coffin. Now what's fascinating to me about all this is that inside you have all the text for basically your manual for the afterlife. Everything you needed to get through into the afterlife is included on the inside of the coffin. Roger Cooper>> What a handy thing for him. Dr. Peter Keller>> Yep, a manual. Makes you wish we had one for this life. Roger Cooper>> Exactly. [Film Clip] Dr. Peter Keller>> Well, this is one of my favorite items in the entire exhibition because it looks like it's a piece of furniture that would have been made today, yet it's at least three thousand years old. You notice this is a folding chair. So when the king or any of the royalty went off on a hunting expedition or a war, they had to take their folding chairs along just like we do. Roger Cooper>> Now bring home to us what we are looking at. How old is this and what is this? Dr. Peter Keller>> This is a three thousand year old mummy that was actually found in Thebes, the area of Thebes, on the Nile River on one of the British Museum expeditions. What's very interesting about this piece is that we did computerized CT scans on six of these mummies that revealed extraordinary detail. With all six, we had the British Museum curators here, we had a team of radiologists, we had the technicians from General Electric and we had the mobile van, which made it very handy. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to bring all these to a hospital. Roger Cooper>> That has to make these very real for you to see them that way. Dr. Peter Keller>> Oh, it's incredible, and we do have the CT scans on exhibit as well. [Film Clip] Dr. Peter Keller>> Roger, this is Carol Hallenbeck. Carol is the Chairman of our docent program and they actually tour thousands and thousands of people here. Carol has given this tour many more times than I ever dreamed of, so I've asked her to say a few words about some of our pieces. Carl Hallenbeck>> This is a mummy mask. The idea was to cover the face of the mummy with an idealized form so the mummy could then begin its journey to the afterworld looking like a god. Gold was the color of the faces of the gods, so they made this beautiful mask. It has a scarab beetle on the top to show that it's related to the sun. It has beautiful engravings to show a beaded necklace. It has an ankh under the chin, the symbol of life. You would be honored to go into the afterlife with an image such as this. This is a cobra. The Delta in Egypt was full of cobras. So to keep the cobra from biting them and their children, they made the cobra a god. You find the cobra on all of the headdresses of the Pharaohs. It's facing out. It can spit at the enemies of the Pharaoh and not harm the Egyptians themselves. This is Osiris, the king of the dead and the ruler of the underworld. You will always find Osiris in every room of this exhibit. Notice that he has the shepherd's crook and the symbols of his kingship. He has an "atef" crown on his head. It looks like a bowling ball in the middle with feathers on the side and curling lamb's horns out each side. This is a Stella. This is a way for the spirit of the dead man to receive the food that he would need to live forever. So over here on the left, you have the dead man. This is his wife bringing food. You can see the food piled on the table. The Egyptian art required all the food to be listed vertically. If it were laid horizontally, they would cease to exist. So in the afterlife, his spirit will be able to have all kinds of beer, wine, vegetables and meat to live forever. We like to teach students a little bit about hieroglyphs. These hieroglyphs indicate that the king gives food and the spirit wanted food so it could live forever. The king gives food, and here you see the dead man's relatives bringing the food to feed the spirit of the dead man. [Film Clip] Roger Cooper>> Dr. Peter Keller, the beauty of this exhibit is that it will be around a while here at the Bowers. Dr. Peter Keller>> It will be around for quite a while, two to five years. Roger Cooper>> And the first of many things to come from the British Museum. Dr. Peter Keller>> That's correct. We look forward to at least five to ten years of British Museum exhibitions and we're very excited about it because, of course, you're dealing with one of the oldest, greatest museums in the world right here in Orange County. Roger Cooper>> Thank you so much. Dr. Peter Keller>> Thank you. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> If you'd like more information on the mummies' exhibit, you can go to their website at bowers.org. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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