About Combat Stress and its Cure

Combat stress is characterized as the emotional and psychological state of tension encountered by servicemen or veterans of the armed forces, as well as other fighters, as a result of exposure to danger and the demands that come with fighting on the frontline or in a combat atmosphere (Mulvaney et al. 1133-1140). Battle occupational stress reactions (COSR) are anticipated, analytical, predictable, mental, physical, or behavioral reactions that service members or the army undergo during their various military or combat operations. Combat stress reactions can manifest themselves in two ways. One is that it can happen and cause a service man to adapt to the environment and make him or her resilient and more focused on ensuring that the mission at hand is accomplished. The other way that combat stress can affect an individual that it can be maladaptive in that it leads to misconducts of which can result in disciplinary actions being taken up on the service man where in extreme cases, he or she can be expelled from duty or create a possibility of incarceration. This paper seeks to critically look into the methods and strategies used to aid the veterans in overcoming the stress.

Writers Position

It is inevitable for the service men to experience combat stress and hence various ways have been implemented to help them deal with the tensions they experience while in the combat field (Levi et al. 298-307). One way to manage combat stress is the introduction of the COSR interventions that are organized and applied in the battle fields, and that cover a full spectrum of care, that is from the prevention point of view all the way to the provision of clinical and medical attention.. Another method, which has been used to ease the stress, is the introduction of behavioral health providers and occupational therapists. However, with the introduction of all these measures and strategies, there exist some types of personality which prefer not to talk to anyone when face with stress and tensions. In most cases, these people tend to get rid of these tensions through behaving in a way that may seem inappropriate to their peers as well as to their seniors. Consequently, it is valid to argue out that the service men that are found in a perceived misconduct should not be expelled from service or even be put into the incarceration. There should be the ways to be implemented in accommodating such cases and the related to personality issues.

Summary of Opposing Views

It is claimed that every individual is unique in one way or another. What may seem natural to one person may be impossible for another. In the military camps and the battlefields, there are the counselors implemented to help the combatants deal with fear, tensions, and stress while fighting or facing an impending danger. Due to the uniqueness of human beings, people are fashioned to tackle stressful situations in different ways (Cuellar 357-363). While in the battlefield, for instance, some of the service men may feel that to handle their fear, they need to talk to someone, and hence the provision of the COSR intervention specialists, the occupational therapists as well as behavioral therapists come in handy for this class or group of people.

However, there is another group of individuals who feel that other people cannot help them in any way deal and get over feelings of stress and tensions and tend to handle them in the ways, which they know suits them best. Some people, even in their day-to-day lives, tend to handle stress by breaking things, fighting or even screaming at the top of their voices. While it is allowable in real life situations, on the battlefield, it may be inapplicable, and in most cases, it is taken as a point of misconduct, which can lead to adverse affects upon the service man in question.

Service men are normal human beings and should be given an opportunity to handle their issues of life just as they would if they were at home. The provision of various therapists is not the only way, which should be implemented in the battlefield or in situations and environments that occur before the exposure of harm or danger. One way that can help is the provision of a screaming field. People who scream with the aim at shedding off stress and tensions are as ordinary as those who seek for the attention of therapists and counselors and hence facilities for managing these kinds of people should be implemented just like the way various behavioral and occupational stress therapists are put in place (Keenan et al. 546-554). It would ensure that there is an inclusion for all; hence, the needs and desires for each and everyone are catered for at any given time. Most of the service men that end up experiencing extreme impacts of combat stress are those who fail to reach to availed facilities and in this case the therapists provided, not because of a choice but because they feel like they should not of which is a valid claim because of the existing personality differences. Clinical cases related to stress and tensions mostly occur due to the lack of availability of other options that is other than the availing of the various therapists and in extreme cases, some service men may die of stress-related ailments and issues.

Some of the ways people handle stress can significantly be useful in the battlefield and hence the more reason the leaders of the service men should focus more on understanding various personality types of their men rather than offering them options of dealing with their stress. Some people when they are stressed out, they tend to be more aggressive. In some instances, these people may tend to break things down or burst out fights with their peers. While acts of violence, it may be seen as a threat or a case of professional misconduct that in most cases may lead to incarceration or expelled for the service, it can be beneficial to the team (Cuellar 357-363). Identifying these people and understanding them would be of much significance to the service men. Understanding these people and providing the ideal environment upon which they can efficiently handle their stress and tension would be beneficial for them as well and eventually, they would feel included and appreciated. Whenever wars break, these men and women are the ideal people to be put on the battle front as it would help them deal with their tensions as well as assist the service men in taking an advantage over their allies. Instead of punishing them for who they are, the leaders should capitalize on the vast inbuilt potential in these men and women whose ways of dealing with combat stress violently acting.

Posttraumatic stress is another common condition for the military men and women. The veterans face a lot of challenges and issues when they leave the combat fields. The issues may be due to the numerous deaths they have witnessed when the war has been on or due to the experiences; they have had when the warring enemies have attacked their camps. The symptoms of combat related to posttraumatic stress vary from one individual to another. The methods and strategies used to cure and deal with these tensions may not work for every person. In most cases, a checklist of the symptoms that the patient displays is taken twice in a week and from that, the therapists are able to identify the issue and provide the suitable treatment to be administered. After the treatment, the patient is placed under observation for about three to six months in which follow up treatments are administered (Goetter et al. 590). Even though it is essential and effective to curb the post-traumatic stress, in some cases it may not work. Some patients would need extra time to heal compared to others and hence the follow-ups should not be limited with time but with the amount of time, the patient would take to recover completely from the effects of the traumatic experiences they had from the battlefield. With the extension of the follow-up period, the combat related to post traumatic stress would be eliminated in all the veterans and hence ensure full effectiveness.

Response to Opposing Views

Some of the therapists that offer posttraumatic stress related to the therapy are not competent, and hence in some cases, they may provide ineffective services to the sick and suffering veterans. Experience in a variety of fields is needed for therapists to be useful in administering his or her services to service men suffering from posttraumatic stress. The symptoms and extent of the impact, which the trauma has had on the veterans, may vary from one individual to the next, and hence there needs to be deployed therapists who have experience in multiple fields of physiological and behavioral stress. The deployment of multiple therapists is required to make the treatment and the consequent follow-ups effective in producing results, when it comes to help the veterans deal with trauma and tensions related to the same. It would not be good to offer services to some retired service men and leave out some, as equal opportunities should be availed to and for all without discrimination or favoritism. Sometimes therapists may be experienced managing only behavioral stress related to disorders, and if deployed to treat a veteran who faces psychological stress related to impairments, his services would be ineffective for that particular patient.

Furthermore, the kind of treatment administered to the individual veterans should be dependent upon some thorough study conducted on that particular veteran, and not offer and aggregate common treatment for all without carefully considering their individual needs. Just like in every medical case, one treatment may be effective for one person and still fail to work in another. Therefore, a rigorous study of the patient needs to be conducted before any treatment is administered to him or her; otherwise, it may be detrimental to them and end up causing more harm than good. Just like the normal medication, the therapy administered to patients requires being studied well in order to measure its effectiveness and side as well. However, generic treatments and therapy sessions are commonly implemented to those suffering from posttraumatic stress related to disorders, needs not to be administered to any patient at any given time. Therefore, a particular medication is availed for a patient suffering from a given condition, there should only be a specific therapy type administered to a veteran suffering from a given combat stress related to impairments.

Most veterans and retired service men suffer from emotional wounds that are deeply etched and fail to be easily detected. These wounds go beyond the common symptoms of a posttraumatic stress related to disorders (Levi et al. 298-307). There have been cases reported of combatants who have experienced unresolved grief and shame that experienced unresolved grief and shame whose onset would be traced to the loss of lives of their colleagues and peers while at war torn avenues. These forms of guilt are in other words referred to as the “moral injury” by researchers and clinicians. The human attachment resulted from working together with the fallen soldiers is the main trigger of grief and regrets that these veterans experience after the battle. To deal with these issues some clinicians advice on the use of group therapies where the veterans come together, either perform activities together or have a one on one talk. The group therapies are significantly effective in most cases. The veterans are able to share how they feel as they sit on a sincere chat session. Besides, the use of a physical meet up of veterans, they can be encouraged to write letters to each other sharing how they feel about time after time (Keenan et al. 546-554). Through hearing how others feel about the same scenario that one experienced can help him or her to be strong, and eventually it can lead to complete healing and elimination of pains, guilt, and shame of the loss of their peers and friends. After various sessions of sharing experiences and feelings, the veterans are able to come to terms with the status quo and overcome the fear that they let their comrades down and through the acceptance, they can eventually live healthy lives, free from stress and guilt.

Conclusion

To sum up, there are various traumatic stress related to disorders that veterans are faced with either during and after wars and their issues needs to be treated in various ways. In most cases therapy sessions may not work for every one of the veterans and hence other ways and procedures should be implemented as well as to cater for all the needs of these fighters. People have different ways in which they manage their stress related to impairments, due to their particular type of personality and the provisions of ideal environments upon which they can efficiently manage tensions should be availed. Understanding the types of personality in the various members of the army is crucial when it comes to determine the type of tension-relieving strategy to be used, since it is the only way through which appropriate and effective measures would be implemented. Letter writing as well as organizing sessions where the veterans meet to share their feelings is another way, which can effectively help the veterans overcome stress, and tensions that occur after coming back from combat fields.

Works cited

Cuellar, Norma G. “Mindfulness Meditation for Veterans – Implications for Occupational Health Providers”. AAOHN Journal, no. 56(8), 2008, pp. 357-363, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18717302. Aug. 2008.

Goetter, Elizabeth M., et al. “A Systematic Review of Dropout from Psychotherapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among Iraq and Afghanistan Combat Veterans”. Journal of Traumatic Stress, no. 28(6), 2015, pp 590-590, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26375387. Accessed Oct. 2015.

Keenan, Melinda J., Lumley, Vicki A., & Schneider, Robert B. “A Group Therapy Approach to Treating Combat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Interpersonal Reconnection through Letter Writing”. Psy.chotherapy, no. 51(4), 2014, pp. 546-554, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260872827_A_Group_Therapy_Approach_to_Treating_Combat_Posttraumatic_Stress_Disorder_Interpersonal_Reconnection_Through_Letter_Writing. Accessed Mar. 2014.

Levi, Ofir et al. “Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Comparative Effectiveness Study”. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, no. 23(4), 2015, pp. 298-307, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26189337. Accessed Jul. 2016.

Mulvaney, Sean W. et al. “Stellate Ganglion Block Used to Treat Symptoms Associated with Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Case Series of 166 Patients”. Military Medicine, no. 179(10), 2014, pp. 1133-1140, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25269132. Accessed Oct. 2014.