AssessmentofHumansExperiencingUncontrollableStress.docVIP

Assessment of Humans Experiencing Uncontrollable Stress: The SERE Course - Army training in survival, evasion, resistance and escape Special Warfare, ?Summer, 2000 ?by Dr. C. A. Morgan III, ?Gary Hazlett ? Save a personal copy of this article and quickly find it again with F. Its free! Save?it. Physical and psychological stress are unavoidable in military operations, yet the negative effects of stress can make it difficult or impossible for individuals or teams to operate effectively. Stress is an essential element of warfare, and individual responses to combat-related stress have often been the determining factor between victory and defeat on the battlefield. Having recognized the effects of stress, the U.S. military designs its training scenarios to be both rigorous and realistic in their stress intensity. Rigorous training improves a persons ability to perform on the battlefield, and exposure to realistic levels of stress can protect or inoculate a person from some of the negative effects of operational stress. The concept of stress inoculation is very much like the concept of preventing a particular disease through vaccination: When stress inoculation occurs, an individuals performance will likely be better the next time he is stressed. Like immunization, which occurs only when the vaccine is given in the proper dosage, stress inoculation occurs only when the stress intensity is at the optimal level -- high enough to activate a persons psychological and biological systems, but low enough so as not to overwhelm them. If the stress level is not high enough, inoculation will not occur; if the stress level is too high, stress sensitization will occur, and the individual will probably perform less effectively when he is stressed again. Continue article Advertisementscript /script NOSCRIPT A HREF=/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/findarticle/ros300x250/ron/nws/ss/a/1191967482/x15/OasDefault/BCN2005050092_01_Microsoft/300x250.html/38303764383537373431386162313530?/jump/N32