STRESS AND COPING WITH TRAUMA OF WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF

File: 110596_sep96_decls2_0032.txt
Page: 0032
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










             would consist of rest, replenishment, and psychological

             support combined with education on stress management and

             battle fatigue. Medications would be limited to sleeping

             aids except in very special cases. The unit would be run by

             corpsmen designated as "squad leaders". A military

             atmosphere would be preserved and access to the psychiatric

             ward would be severely limited. Servicemen assigned to the

             CSC would be referred to as soldiers, sailors, or marines -

             not as patients.

                  Case Example: The first crew member to be admitted to

             the psychiatry ward was a young female corpsman. Several

             days before the deployment she had become engaged and was

             transferred to a new work center with different people. She

             was having trouble sleeping and eating. She tried to tell

             friends, co-workers, and supervisors that she was not coping

             but "no one would listen." On the night of her

             hospitalization, she picked up one of the fire axes and

             carried it into her berthing area in a threatening manner.

             After the commotion subsided, she was escorted to the

             psychiatric ward. Her recovery was uneventful once she felt

             she was being heard and understood.

                  One measure of the crew's overall mental health was the

             rate of psychiatric hospitalization and subsequent departure

             from the ship. During the six and one half months of the

             deployment 17 Comfort crew members accounted for 18




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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