Stress and health during medical humanitarian assistance missions

The present research examined stress and health among service members deployed on a medical humanitarian assistance mission to Kazakstan. Team members were surveyed before and during their deployment. Team members underestimated how much stress they would experience in terms of isolation and inabili...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Military medicine 1999-04, Vol.164 (4), p.275-279
Main Authors: BRITT, T. W, ADLER, A. B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Alcohol
Biological and medical sciences
Burnout, Professional - diagnosis
Burnout, Professional - etiology
Burnout, Professional - prevention & control
Burnout, Professional - psychology
Coping
Female
Health participants
Health Status
Humanitarianism
Humans
Kazakhstan
Male
Medical sciences
Mental Health
Military deployment
Military personnel
Military Personnel - psychology
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Relief Work
Risk Factors
Social Isolation
Stress
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States
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Summary:The present research examined stress and health among service members deployed on a medical humanitarian assistance mission to Kazakstan. Team members were surveyed before and during their deployment. Team members underestimated how much stress they would experience in terms of isolation and inability to help the local population. Team members also used less adaptive coping mechanisms than anticipated and showed elevations in alcohol and cigarette consumption. Despite these negative experiences, reports of depression and physical symptoms did not increase during the deployment. This may have been a function of team members being personally involved in important and relevant work during the humanitarian operation.
ISSN:0026-4075
1930-613X
DOI:10.1093/milmed/164.4.275