Air Date: May 2, 2012

Service members can take steps to build and maintain their psychological resilience.

NARRATOR:

This is Real Warriors—Real Advice.

Just like a physical capability, psychological resilience is a skill that can be learned, allowing warriors to recover more quickly from stressful situations than they otherwise might. Tactics for improving resilience include communicating openly about your deployment experiences, accepting support, and taking positive and decisive action to address problems. Warriors can also build and maintain resilience by looking at the broader context in which a stressful event occurred and maintaining a long-term outlook.

According to Navy Capt. Paul Hammer, Director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, employing these and other resilience tactics are an important step in addressing stress.

CAPT. PAUL HAMMER:

Being resilient does not mean that you will never experience stress. Being resilient means that you deal with stress and address it in a very proactive and upfront manner. Number one, be aware of it. Number two, look out for it and watch for it, and then do something about it when it occurs. And that’s the important thing regarding resilience is actively coping and dealing with whatever experience you have in a combat theater.

NARRATOR:

Bolstering one’s resilience is a healthy long-term practice, and implementing even one resilience tactic to address specific stressors can have positive effects and boost other resilience factors too. Warriors experiencing acute stress reactions, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder or other psychological health concerns should start by seeking support from their unit leadership, a chaplain, or a psychological health professional. Find out more about resilience, psychological health concerns and how you or someone you know can get needed support by accessing information and resources 24/7 at realwarriors.net or by calling 866-966-1020.