Stress: Thriving in the midst of chaos

  • Published
  • By Capt. Dan Michel
  • 60th Medical Operation Squadron
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Stress is perceived as a negative emotion that leads to high blood pressure, ulcers, and/or sleepless nights -- basically something to be avoided or medicated. In recent decades, researchers surmised exposing children and adults to stress would be harmful by causing increased anxiety, decreased self-confidence and self-esteem, which impaired performance in major areas of life -school, work and relationships and possibly lead to despair and suicide.

Behavioral scientists are starting to find positive ways to handle the full range of our emotions, and help to understand ourselves better, while dealing with the source of our stress more effectively. This, in turn, could help struggling individuals cope with emotional disorders and poor physical health. Studies investigating how some individuals can overcome extremely stressful and challenging situations, including serious trauma and loss, particularly in light of the U.S. military's current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, have led to significant interest in the area of resiliency, a newly-defined stress-coping mechanism.

Dr. Susan Kobasa, a psychologist at City University, New York defines resiliency as "the ability to recover from or adjust to change or misfortune." From this perspective, stress could be a developmental opportunity, which could make us stronger if approached with the correct state of mind. This perspective is mirrored in the perspective of the National Center on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which states the development of PTSD is often a failure to recover from a loss or trauma.

Doctor Kobasa emphasizes resiliency as three main adaptive attitudes or dimensions. First, resilient individuals exhibit commitment to the task. They believe whatever they are focused on is worth their best effort. Second, in stressful situations resilient individuals focus on the things they can control and recognize issues out of their control. Lastly, in a resilient state of mind, stress is viewed as a challenge to be overcome.

The Air Force has directed the establishment of Traumatic Stress Response Teams at each major installation to which the application of resiliency is prominent, when dealing with servicemember's stressors.

"The primary mission of the TSRT, comprised of members from David Grant USAF Medical Center's Mental Health Clinic, the Airman and Family Readiness Center, and the Chaplain Corps is to enhance the resiliency of Air Force members by performing pre-exposure preparation and providing education and support following a traumatic incident," said Col. Frank Budd, 60th Medical Operations Squadron Mental Health Flight commander. "PEP is an educational intervention designed to enhance resiliency by preparing Airmen to respond optimally to difficult situations by discussing what to expect when exposed to stressors, common and healthy responses to stress and effective coping strategies for managing stress"

According to Colonel Budd, the TSRT at Travis takes this training even further by helping members and units identify specific ways to enhance resiliency. This is best accomplished is by setting up training opportunities that involve gradual increases in stress that approximate real-life scenarios while ensuring positive success prior to each increase in stress level. This type of stress-induced training serves as an inoculation, which helps Airmen not only respond optimally under stress associated with their job or deployment, but also cope better with stress in general.

Given TSRT's emphasis on maximizing performance in extreme situations, the particular focus of the program is directed toward those at an elevated risk for experiencing intense stress, such as those deploying into combat zones or those in high-risk jobs. Applying this resiliency perspective, the TSRT seeks to help deployers and their family members view combat stress not, as a threat, but as a personal challenge they voluntarily enter in support of their values and beliefs, which test their skills and strength.

"What is essential to understand is this ability to face hardship and respond optimally; a skill that we can cultivate over time, and not one, we should expect to naturally possess without having worked to develop," said Lt. Col. Byrl Engel, 60th Security Forces Squadron commander. "There is a reason members of our first responder teams and our elite Special Forces are constantly training in the most demanding and austere conditions -- so they will have acquired the mental and physical skills to not just survive but thrive when they must perform their jobs in the heart of real world emergencies."

While the military directly seeks to promote resiliency through training, it can also be enhanced in off-duty endeavors as Airmen face the stressors of daily life in the form of finances, family, friends, school and physical fitness. According to Colonel Engel, every life challenge presents the opportunity to make us stronger and more prepared for the next challenge.

"As Airmen, we must learn to embrace and seek out stress if we are going to enhance our personal limits of performance both on and off the battlefield," Colonel Engel explained. "The merit of this resiliency-based view of stress is highlighted by the first-rate performance Travis Airman have exhibited in fulfilling their mission during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, and more recently in the humanitarian response to Haiti."

Nevertheless, the TSRT is always looking for further opportunities to work with Airmen and commanders to best help prepare our warriors and families to deal with the stress of deployment and other military-related challenges.

For more information, the Travis TSRT can be reached by contacting DGMC's Mental Health Clinic at 423-5174.