Stress Inoculation - Physical and psychological
stress are unavoidable in military operations, yet the negative
effects of stress can make it difficult or impossible to operate
effectively. Stress is an essential element of warfare, and
individual responses to combat-related stress have often been
a determining factor in battlefield performance and survival.
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 person's 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 individual's
performance will likely be better the next time he is stressed.
Stress Inoculation Services - What I
offer are services that can help the soldier become "stress-hardy",
pre-deployment . The military accomplishes a level of stress-hardiness
in its training and similations, however, an additional component
- one that helps soldiers regulate physiological and psychological
hardiness - is what I offer (see the Medical
Bibliography on Meditation).