HW410 FINAL PROJECT 1

Byron Stanley

Final Project

HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention

January 19, 2021

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Stress Management and Prevention Program

Introduction

The population I am choosing to focus on is the Military and Veteran population. One of the

greatest things about the population is the brother/sisterhood it creates in the community. There is a

level of relatability between Veterans and military service members that is not always that easy to

come by in other populations. In other populations there is division based off of religion and politics

just to name a few. Whereas the Military and Veteran population has the shared service experience

that often times outweighs the political and religious differences between individuals.

The reason that I am choosing this population is because there are a plethora resources

available that often time go unused because the population is unaware they are available to them.

There are a lot of benefits out there, such as, financial counseling, and mental health counseling that is

just a phone call away, but without having readily available access to the phone numbers, are not

utilized by those who often times need it the most. A lot of times members of this population are can

be put at ease just knowing the resource is available. Creating a centralize program to give members

of my community the resources necessary to get the help they need and deserve will help then

navigate through the many available benefits it is hard to sort through all the noise in order to find

what is truly needed. Having someone there to help guide these members in the right direction is what

is needed as a lot of Military and Veterans are not the type to ask for help and do not want anyone

doing anything for them.

My goal is to have the resources and guidance available to these individuals to empower

themselves into getting to their desired solution without it being some sort of hand out. The feeling a

pity to a service member or Veteran is often times more harmful than the stressor itself. They have
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fought for our freedoms and when someone tries to give them a hand out, it feels as though they have

lost that fight in their minds.

Stressors

1. Debt

Financial issues rank among the most stressful lifestyle concerns for active-duty service

members, veterans and their families (Frank, 2019). Part of this stress on active duty military

is due to moving approximately every three years, which can make it difficult to maintain dual

incomes within the family (Frank, 2019). Military spouse employment is cited as a top family

issue of concern by 45 percent of active duty military spouses (Frank, 2019). When it comes

to Veterans nearly two thirds say their civilian job did not match the skills and qualifications

they had when they left military service (Frank, 2019).

2. Relocation

Stress from a move is one of the top five stressors that military members and veterans

have to deal with (Lilley, 2018). The only stressor more impactful than relocation for service

members is Deployment itself (Lilley, 2018).

3. Relationships

Partners of the Veteran can feel that the Veteran has become focused on themselves and

unable to consider the feelings and needs of others, or feel cut off and neglected (Young

Diggers, n.d.). This could also similarly affect children who may feel confused and angry

with a parent who is rarely able/willing to talk or play with them and start to blame

themselves; thinking they are to blame (Young Diggers, n.d.).

4. Past Trauma –Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

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PTSD is commonly linked to the military and originates from observations of the effect of

combat on soldiers; though, it does not always have to stem from combat exposure (Tull,

2019). PTSD does not just affect the service member, however it is also incredibly difficult

for their family members as well and can affect the mental health of their loved ones, just as it

does them (Tull, 2019).

5. Transition from Active Duty

Transition from the military creates intense anxiety for some, and because of that

individuals will tend to grab the first opportunity they are offered, even if it is not the best fit

for them as individuals feel like this first opportunity is their “safe bet” (Springer, 2019).

Service members get indoctrinated into the norms of the military culture, but when they leave

the service they do not always have an integrative road map to address the psychological,

cultural and relational challenges that transition from the military brings with it (Springer,

2019).

6. Employment

Many Veterans settle in life after the military and do not continue to push themselves to

assume great leadership roles across our society (Springer, 2019). In the Military they are

paid a salary and an almost (with very few exceptions) guaranteed paycheck on the first and

fifteenth of every month.

7. Returning from Deployment

While deployed your mind and body become attuned to reacting to a wide range of

psychological cues and stimuli creating habits that are hard to break when your return home

(Young Diggers, n.d.). Common responses upon returning home are hyper vigilance,
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heightened startle response, flashbacks, panic attacks and extreme anger (Young Diggers,

n.d.).

8. Family Separation

Life does not always fall back into place as it was before deployments, and some keys to

dealing with those issues that arise are processing and addressing the areas of difficulty,

cherishing hope in life and the future, and sustaining contact with family friends and

colleagues who have gotten used to you being gone (Young Diggers, n.d.).

9. Injuries

One out of every ten veterans alive today was seriously injured at some point while

serving in the military, with seventy five percent of those injuries a result of combat (Morin,

2011). Veterans who have suffered service-related injuries are over twice as likely as those

not injured to have difficulties readjusting to civilian life (Morin, 2011).

10. Substance Abuse

There are many reasons that service members turn to alcohol and drugs, chief among

them: combat experience, psychological distress, increases risk of injury, and the overall

culture of the military; especially in regards to drinking (Thomas, 2020). Turning to alcohol,

for example, is a common way to unwind or otherwise cope with the challenges of the

military lifestyle (Thomas, 2020).

Importance

Typically when it comes to stress in the Military they focus on mission types and

combat, deployments and the threat of bodily harm as the causes and under pinning reasons

for stress, studies unfortunately do not focus on the typical aspects of everyday military life:

periodic changes of command, getting stationed overseas and little control over duty
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assignments (Pflanz & Sonnek, 2002). Even during peacetime, studies have found stress to be

a significant source of distress for military personnel (Pflanz & Sonnek, 2002). Some of the

main causes of stress in the military lifestyle are: change in responsibilities at work, change

in working hours, change to a different line of work, permanent change of station, trouble

with supervisors and by passed for promotion just to name a few (Pflanz & Sonnek, 2002).

Stress symptoms may be affecting your health, often times disguised as other illnesses

or ailments (Mayo Clinic Staff. 2019). These symptoms could show up as a headache,

insomnia or even decreases productivity at work (Mayo Clinic Staff. 2019). Stress can affect

your body, mood and behavior (Mayo Clinic Staff. 2019). Physical effects of stress can

include headache, tension, chest pain, fatigue, change in sex drive, upset stomach and sleep

problems (Mayo Clinic Staff. 2019). When it comes to mental effects of stress, it causes

anxiety, restlessness, lack of motivation or focus, irritability or anger and sadness or

depression (Mayo Clinic Staff. 2019). The behavioral effects of stress can include over or

under eating, angry outburst, drug or alcohol misuse, tobacco use, social withdrawal and

exercising less often (Mayo Clinic Staff. 2019).

Stress Management Techniques

If you’re having symptoms of stress there are difference strategies you can explore to

manage your stress: getting regular physical activity, practicing relaxation techniques, keeping a

sense of humor, spending time with family and friends and setting aside time for hobbies (Mayo

Clinic Staff. 2019). There are three main ones that I would like to dive into: journal writing,

resource management, and hobbies.

Journal wiring is defined as “a coping technique; expression of thoughts, feelings,

memories, and idea in written form, either prose or poetry, to increase self-awareness”
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(Seaward, 2018). Participating in journaling has been a proven coping technique for dealing

with stress and is often used by psychologists, life coaches and health educators as a tool or

self-exploration, soul searching and the enhancement of personal development (Seaward,

2018). Journal writing has been proven in studies to also lessen the effect of traumatic events

had an immediate negative response that eventually lessened the frequency of “illness visit” to

a campus health center and even has been shown to increase immune function when compared

to those who addressed superficial non-traumatic events (Seaward, 2018).

Resource management is another coping mechanism that is vitally important to this

population due to the set monthly salary/income during active duty to the uncertainty after

active duty. Resource management can cover a multitude of things, but most importantly to

military service members and veterans is time and money. Maintaining financial stability

requires discipline and has four simple rules: make a budget and follow it, do not spend what

you do not have, pay your bills on time and put away at least ten percent of your monthly

income into a savings account (Seaward, 2018). Money management is a skill that takes

practice, and will not happen overnight, the sooner you start practicing the sooner the benefits

will show in your life (Seaward, 2018). Time management is a part of a larger coping

mechanism called social orchestration; or a cognitive strategy employed to help minimize

stressors without avoiding them (Seaward, 2018). Time management is defined as the

prioritization, scheduling and execution of daily responsibilities to a level of personal

satisfaction; effective time management does not mean you have more time, it means you

make better use of the time you have (Seaward, 2018).

Hobbies are a great way to de-stress. Participating in a hobby does not mean that you

avoid the stressors, however they are beneficial when used as a healthy diversion to offer a
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temporary escape from the sensory overload that can produce or perpetuate the stress response

of everyday life (Seaward, 2018). Taking your mind off a problem or removing an issue

temporarily from conscious attention enables an individual to deal better with issues upon

returning to their conscious with a “fresh train of thought” (Seaward, 2018).

Implementation

The easiest way to implement my program is to start off by creating a Social Media

following with a business page that is free and has links to different resources that are

available to the veteran and military communities. The best part about this plan is that

multiple pages can be created to expand to program to different geographical locations in

order to tailor the resources through localities in order to get the most benefit for those

communities. In my opinion, one of the biggest struggle with these types of resources is that

they are centered near military bases and when someone reaches out for help, they get

directed to someone that is not a part of their community and cannot relate to the local

environment that the individual is seeking help in. As I have seen mostly is that military

service members and veterans are not looking for handouts, which also makes it easier to

implement this program, as I would be provided a central localized set of resources for my

community and not having to figure out the funding of generating grants and funds to give to

these individuals.

The main obstacle I see to this program is getting the word out and advertising to a

specific community. So what I would do to overcome this is generate funds to blast social

media advertisements to specific audiences as well as visiting looking homeless shelters,

Veterans of Foreign Wars locations as well as American Legions with pamphlets and flyers.

These advertisements would stress the coaching and mentoring aspects of stress management
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and specify that they will be set up with local resources instead of centralized national

resources in order to provide a more robust and individual centered assistance.

I would utilize the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs “Make the Connection”

website in order to find and use resources for the individual and that are local and nationwide

if desired, in order to foster the most productive helping environment possible for those in

need (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 2021). Together there would be access to mental

health professionals to help with PTSD and substance abuse, among other mental health

needs; there is also access to caregivers and health professions for wounded, ill and injured

service members veterans and their families through the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs

(U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 2021).

Success of this program would be determined through amount of traffic tracked

through social media pages to include views and link activity, which can be tracked for free

through the social media platform. Alongside those statistics I would use local surveys

conducted through Veterans outreach groups government agencies that track trends in

financial need and health care of service members and veterans. We will also track the

number of individuals requesting help through the various resources by utilizing a “How did

you hear about us” questionnaire with each resource to specify what, or who, led the

individual to the correct avenue of help they were looking for.

As I stated earlier there is a plethora of resources available to service members and

veterans, who often times do not want to injure their own pride by asking for help. They will

respond more positively to resources that help guide them through the stressors when they feel

as though they are in control of the situations and decisions being made in regards to their

specific situations. There is no wheel being reinvented here, just current resources being
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highlighted and recommended based on locality of the individual in order to provide a more

tailored approach to the community without making them feel like just a number in the giant

national system of resources available to them.

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References

Frank, D. (2019, February 6). Financial Concerns Especially Stressful for Military Families. AARP.

https://www.aarp.org/home-family/voices/veterans/info-2019/survey-family-stress.html

Lilley, K. (2018, January 17). Moving-related stress? Military family survey shows you are far from

alone. Military Times. https://www.militarytimes.com/home-hq/2018/01/17/moving-related-

stress-military-family-survey-shows-you-are-far-from-alone/

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2019, April 4). Stress symptoms: Effects on your body and behavior. Mayo

Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-

symptoms/art-20050987

Morin, R. (2011, November 8). For Many Injured Veterans, A Lifetime of Consequences. Pew

Research Center. https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/11/08/for-many-injured-veterans-a-

lifetime-of-consequences/

Pflanz, S., & Sonnek, S. (2002). Work stress in the military: Prevalence, causes, and relationship to

emotional health. Military Medicine, 167(11), 877–882. https://doi-

org.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/10.1093/milmed/167.11.877

Seaward, B. (2018). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being (9th

ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Springer, S. (2019, November 15). How the stress of military transition leads to regrettable

career and relationship decisions. Military Times.

https://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2019/11/15/how-the-stress-of-

military-transition-leads-to-regrettable-career-and-relationship-decisions/

Stahl, B., & Goldstein, E. (2019). A mindfulness-based stress reduction workbook (2nd ed.).

New Harbinger Publications.

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Thomas, S. (2020, May 4). Substance Abuse in the Active Military Personnel.

https://americanaddictioncenters.org/occupational-stress-influences/military-substance-

abuse

Tull, M. (2019, October 21). The Connection Between PTSD and Military Service.

https://www.verywellmind.com/overview-of-ptsd-and-the-military-2797443

U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. (2021). U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. https://va.gov

Young Diggers. (n.d.). Effects of military-related stress on relationships.

https://youngdiggers.com.au/effects-militar-related-stress-relationships