Attrition: Climbing Out Of A Depression

Archives

January 12, 2009:  The U.S. Army has found that PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is not the only risk soldiers coming back from a combat tour have to worry about. Even troops who are not suffering from PTSD, find themselves having a hard time switching from the tense atmosphere of a combat zone. The traditional approach has been lectures and counseling. But EUCOM (the U.S. European command) has also instituted Warrior Adventure Quest for the combat units stationed in Europe that return from combat tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. This program offers white water rafting, mountain biking or rock climbing as a way to ease the transition from combat stress to normal life at the base. Troops come back all amped up from months of combat, and need some way to shed the tension, besides a bar brawl, or reckless driving. While military training can be exciting, that's not what the troops are looking for in the way of decompressing. But the non-military adventures seem to serve as a bridge between the combat stress, and less stressful life on the base. Then again, some troops just sit down with the same violent video games that they used when in the combat zone, to decompress after a day of combat.

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   contribute   Close