June 30, 1995
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (CNN) --The April 19 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City has left an indelible image of pain and suffering on survivors and rescuers. For many, like rescue worker Hubert Gilbert, the scene was too horrible to understand, yet too difficult to forget. "As I arrived, I saw a man who looked like he was just standing in the window looking out at me, knowing he was dead but just standing there. It was as if he was standing there looking at me saying 'Help me'."
Gilbert is experiencing some of the classic symptoms of post oxamatic stress syndrome, a psychological disorder that is common among people who have been involved in a tramautic event.
He's undergoing a relatively new psychological treatment called eye movement desensitization and reprocessing or EMDR.
The therapist moves his fingers in front of the patient's face and the patient's eyes dart back and forth following the therapist's movements. "It involves a person moving their eyes from left to right or their hands, left to right in a tapping motion to alternate the left and right hemispheres of the brain," explains Psychologist Sandra Wilson.
The treatment was developed eight years ago is touted for its relatively quick results. It's routinely used to treat Vietnam veterans at more than a dozen VA centers and has also been used for victims of Hurricane Andrew, the Los Angeles Earthquake and so far, about seventy victims and rescuers from the Oklahoma City Bombing.
"The image is there. I know now that he...he's dead...he's not crying for help," says Gilbert as he undergoes the therapy.
The technique does have its skeptics. Among them, Harvard doctor Roger Pitman. He tested two groups of Vietnam veterans, using EMDR on one and the same therapy without eye movements on the other. "We found no difference in the amount of improvement between the Vietnam veterans who had received the active eye movement treatment compared to the ones who'd received the control treatment."
Gilbert believes it has helped him deal with the tragedy. "It took away the guilt. It let me realize that, yeah, I did everything I could do." Gilbert hasn't forgotten what happened on April 19, but now, his bad dreams have faded.
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