PostDeployment Stress Brief for Sailors

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Post-Deployment Stress Brief forSailors
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Seven Questions

• What are the major mental and physical stressors
  associated with operational deployment?
• How do Sailors normally adapt to operational
  stress?
• What problems do Sailors sometimes experience
  after returning from an operational deployment?
• What happens when Sailors are subjected to
  stressors of overwhelming intensity or duration?
• What are the symptoms of the three common types
  of stress injury?
• How can Sailors take care of themselves to
  promote healing from stress and stress injuries?
• Where can Sailors get help if they need it?

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Common Operational Stressors
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Common Post-Deployment Stressors
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Three Ways to Adapt to Stressors

• Detach mentally from the environment, yourself,
  or both
• Make yourself numb to that particular challenge

• Change yourself mentally or physically
• Make yourself better suited for that particular
  challenge

• Eliminate or reduce the stressor
• Lessen the force and impact of that particular
  challenge

• Whatever we cannot change, we must try to
  become numb to

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Examples of Each Type of Adaptation During
Deployment

• Changing yourself mentally or physically
• Become physically stronger
• Become more self-confident
• Become more aggressive
• Neutralizing the stressor
• Look to your leaders and buddies to keep you safe
• Use the right protective gear
• Dont become complacent or take stupid chances
• Making yourself numb to stressors you cant
  change
• Dont think about danger or loved ones back home
• Dont look at horrors
• Dont let yourself feel sad for brothers who have
  fallen

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But What Happens After You Return Home?

• Some of the ways you have changed will have to
  change back
• For example, you may have to become less
  aggressive
• Some of the ways you have neutralized the
  stressor will be lost after you return
• For example, you wont always be surrounded by
  buddies any more
• The numbness will have to wear off
• For example, you will remember the dangers you
  faced, and the losses of friends

• All this takes time, so you have to be patient

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What Are the Most Common Stress Problems After
Deployment?

• Risky and dangerous behavior
• Driving too fast or recklessly
• Thrill seeking
• Alcohol or drug abuse
• Drinking too much or too often
• Using illegal drugs
• Violence
• Getting into fights
• Losing your temper with family or friends

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Substance Use Problems in Soldiers 3-6 Months
After Deployment
These data are from an Army study of Soldiers
and Marines 3-6 mos. after deployment.
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Anger and Violence in Soldiers 3-6 Months
After Deployment
These data are from an Army study of Soldiers
and Marines 3-6 mos. after deployment.
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Stress Injuries Occur When Stress Is Too Intense
or Lasts Too Long

• Injury
• May be more abrupt
• A change from the usual self
• Individual loses control
• Irreversible (though can heal)

• Adaptation
• A gradual process
• Can be traced over time
• Individual remains in control
• Reversible

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Three Types Of Stress Injuries
OVERWHELMING COMBAT OPERATIONAL STRESS
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All Types Of Stress Injuries Usually Get Better
Over Time
TRAUMA
FATIGUE
GRIEF
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What Kind of Events Can Cause Traumatic Stress
Injuries?

• Multi-casualty incidents (SVBIEDs, ambushes)
• Friendly fire
• Death or maiming of children and women
• Seeing gruesome scenes of carnage
• Handling dead bodies and body parts
• Avoidable casualties and losses
• Witnessed or committed atrocities
• Witnessed death/injury of a close friend or
  leader
• Killing unarmed or defenseless enemy
• Being helpless to defend or counterattack
• Injuries or near misses
• Killing someone up close

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Most Sailors Do Fine Even After Experiencing
Several Traumatic Events

• Just like with physical jolts to the body, you
  cant predict who will be injured by a particular
  traumatic experience
• Just like with physical jolts to the body, it is
  never the individual Sailors fault if he/she is
  injured
• Just like with physical jolts to the body, most
  traumatic stress injuries heal on their own

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What Are the Possible Symptoms of Traumatic
Stress Injuries?

• Losing control during and immediately after the
  traumatic event
• Spacing out, going numb, not thinking clearly
• Shaking uncontrollably
• Snapping and becoming enraged or panicked
• Having a hard time calming yourself down after
  the traumatic event (heart pounding, rattled)
• Being jumpy, easily startled
• Not sleeping well, having repetitive nightmares
• Troubling memories that you cant stop
• Panic attacks or rage outbursts for no reason

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What Causes Operational Fatigue Injuries?

• Prolonged exposure to operational stress over a
  long period of time (or after repeated
  deployments)
• Depends on the intensity and duration of stress
• Everyone will succumb if stressed long enough
• Caused by an accumulation of small stressors over
  time without enough sleep or time off to recover
• Hardships, monotony
• Insufficient rest and recuperation
• More common in officers and chiefs than in
  younger troops
• Old Sergeant's Syndrome
• Can develop without a traumatic event

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What Are the Possible Symptoms of Operational
Fatigue Injuries?

• Anxiety and panic attacks
• Worry, tension, difficulty relaxing
• Heart pounding for no reason Soldiers Heart
• Anger and irritability with no good reason
• Temper outbursts
• Difficulties handling frustrations
• Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep
• Sadness or loss of interest in life
• Loss of self-confidence

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What Are the Possible Symptoms of Grief?

• Everyone responds to the loss of friends and
  loved ones differently
• Common grief symptoms include
• Feeling shocked or numb
• Having a hard time believing the person is dead
• Thinking about the dead person all the time
• Difficulty sleeping, or having nightmares
• Feeling very angry at someone/everyone because
  they didnt prevent the death
• Feeling guilty because you didnt prevent it
• Feeling sad, run-down, and losing interest in life

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How Can Sailors Take Care of Their Stress and
Stress Injuries?

• Be patient with yourself it will take time for
  you to adjust to being back home again, and to
  heal
• Let someone else drive until youre sure you can
  handle traffic
• Get enough sleep every day (6-8 hours)
• Limit alcohol and avoid drugs (including
  caffeine) theyre a trap
• Surround yourself with people (buddies, family,
  ministers, counselors) who make you feel safe
• Get regular, strenuous physical exercise

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How Can Sailors Take Care of Their Stress and
Stress Injuries?

• Avoid situations in which you might lose your
  temper
• If you need an adrenaline rush, try sports
  instead of getting into fights
• Tell your story to others you trust but only
  after you can do so without getting too upset
• Write your experiences down in a journal and
  re-read them until they make sense
• Stay connected to the people you deployed with
• Honor the friends you have lost, and honor their
  families
• Seek spiritual connections

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When and How Can Sailors Get Help for Stress and
Stress Injuries?

• Ask for help if your stress symptoms dont
  improve over time, or if they get worse
• Best places to go first for help
• Unit medical
• Unit chaplain
• Installation FFSC counselors
• Navy OneSource (1-800-540-4123)
• Other resources for help
• Military hospitals and clinics
• TRICARE (www.tricare.osd.mil)
• Veterans Administration hospitals and clinics
• Vet Centers (www.va.gov/rcs)

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Questions?