Combating deployment stress on front lines

Combating deployment stress on front lines

by Tech. Sgt. Francesca Popp
407th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs

10/16/2008 - ALI BASE, Iraq -- Stress comes in all forms and people deal with it differently. While deployed, people can have more stressors and if left untreated could lead to something more serious.

"All of us pay the price when we're deployed," said Maj. (Dr.) Bryan Davidson, officer in charge of the Combat Stress Control Clinic here. "People who've had multiple deployments are seeing more stress, and it can take its toll."

Post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, affects as many as one in six servicemembers, according to a Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program study released in February 2008.

PTSD results from an inability to process a traumatic or potentially traumatic event. Davidson said symptoms include being easily startled, reliving the event through things like nightmares, disturbing thoughts about the trauma and avoiding things that remind someone of that event.

Once military members return home, they can seek out local mental health specialists for help with PTSD, but finding help while deployed has sometimes proven more difficult.

"We want people to know that if they are continuing to have problems, there is help," Davidson said.
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