STRESS MANAGEMENT & RESILIENCE

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STRESS MANAGEMENT RESILIENCE

• Group Captain Richard Castle
• PhD MDA BA C.Psychol RAF
• HQ AIR DACOS Personnel Policy

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• Stress and Human Reactions
• RAF Stress Management Resilience Policy
• QA

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WHAT IS STRESS?

• STRESS is an
• EXCESS of DEMANDS on an
• INDIVIDUAL which is beyond their
• ABILITY TO COPE
• RESILIENCE covers INTERVENTIONS to improve
  INDIVIDUAL COPING MECHANISMS

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TRAUMA DEFINITION

• An Event of Such Emotional Intensity that it
  breaks through the bodys normal defences and
  floods it with an uncontrollable Anxiety
• (Freud, 1921)

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WHY BOTHER ?
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PERSONAL LIFE EVENTS

• ATTEMPTED MURDER
• RAPE
• SUDDEN LOSS OF PARTNER
• CUMULATIVE STRESSORS

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SECONDARY STRESS RESPONSE

• Disturbed Sleep Patterns
• Irritability and Anger Outbursts
• Difficulty in Concentrating
• Hyper-Vigilance
• Exaggerated Startle Response
• Detachment from others
• Diminished Interest in Normal Activities

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AT WORST

• Third Stage of Adaptive Syndrome
• Depressive Symptoms
• Exhaustion and Mental Breakdown
• Relationship Breakdown
• Chronic Adjustment Disorder
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Increased Risk of Suicide

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THE INDIVIDUAL REACTION

• Response will depend on personality of
  individual pre-disaster
• - Genes
• - Upbringing
• - Life Experience
• And Response of Support Services

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RAF STRESS MANAGEMENT AND RESILIENCE POLICY
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OP STRESS MGT POLICY JAN 07

• Roles for Leadership the Individual
• Pre-Deployment briefing and interview
• In-theatre including decompression option/POR
• Return to PU POL
• Post-Deployment interview, Risk
  assessment/awareness, ongoing support
• Interviews mandatory, sharing of personal info is
  not
• Involvement of Family Groups

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OP STRESS MGT POLICY MAY 08

• New Issue Main additions
• In-theatre
• Reporting requirement to PU
• Risk Assessment to determine Decompression
  activity requirements
• Trauma Risk Methodology (TRiM)
• Post Deployment
• Introduction of Stn Recall Days
• Attention on those with unpleasant roles or
  removed from the immediate discomfort of the
  battle zone

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RAF POLICY

• Holistic Stress Mgt Resilience Policy, May 08
• Stressors Vulnerable Individual
• Operational Stress Management
• Occupational Stress Management
• Suicide Deliberate Self Harm
• Training
• Families
• Resources

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ISSUES TO CONSIDER

• Episode(s) not confined to short-term
• Potential for Cumulative stress
• Awareness of potential symptoms
• Do not forget Uninjured participants
• Link with family paramount
• Counselling Skills Vs Leadership
• Major Event Focus for Acceptance