STRESS AND COPING WITH TRAUMA OF WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF

File: 110596_sep96_decls2_0019.txt
Page: 0019
Total Pages: 48

Subject: STRESS AND COPING WITH TRAUMA OF WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF        

Unit: VAR. BUMED  

Parent Organization: BUMED       

Box ID: BX303818

Folder Title: USNS COMFORT TAH 20 MEDICAL ARTICLES 1991 1992                                                  

Document Number:          4

Folder SEQ  #:         13











                     After the cease fire a peculiar phenomenon occurred.

                Several"arguments erupted when a number of individuals

                admitted that they felt cheated because the ship had not

                received war casualties. When others hear this they became

                indignant, saying "How can you wish that people had been

                injured or killed? You are a barbarianlll It was difficult

                for people to acknowledge their mixed feelings about having

                prepared for seven months only to return home. One surgeon

                said, "I left a hero, and now Ilra coming home a bum."

                People were also reluctant to discuss their mixed feelings

                about leaving the steel cocoon that had provided their daily

                needs. Coming home was, for some, depressing because of the

                loss of this holding environnent-and the need to leave

                behind the dependent position.





                                    Coping and Adaptation



                 ....@,Training and preparation often provided a sense of

                competence, activity, and 'mastery to replace boredom and

                fear.-..At the outset,.-staff-devoted themselves to the task

                of setting up a hospital from scratch. Sixteen wards were

                opened and cleaned. When the cruise began, the entire ship

                had a thick coating of soot from being berthed next to a

                coal yard. The ship was cleaned at least three times on the




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Document 48 f:/Week-39/BX303818/USNS COMFORT TAH 20 MEDICAL ARTICLES 1991 1992/stress and coping with trauma of war in the pers:1104960910243
Control Fields 17
File Room = sep96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-39
Box ID = BX303818
Unit = VAR. BUMED
Parent Organization = BUMED
Folder Title = USNS COMFORT TAH 20 MEDICAL ARTICLES 1991 1992
Folder Seq # = 13
Subject = STRESS AND COPING WITH TRAUMA OF WAR IN THE PERS
Document Seq # = 4
Document Date =
Scan Date =
Queued for Declassification = 01-JAN-1980
Short Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Long Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Permanent Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Non-Health Related Document = 01-JAN-1980
Declassified = 04-NOV-1996