Psychological stress in the navy and a model for early detection

Stress is unavoidable and encountered in many shapes and sizes. Being in a state of peaceful happiness may seem like an unachievable goal. Serving in the Armed Forces brings unique challenges during peacetime, in addition to the harmful mental and physical effects of service during war. The prolonged periods of separation from family, the very threat to life and limb, the imminence of physical danger, and the likelihood of the loss of a close colleague make the Armed Forces environment, especially in combat, inherently stressful. The lethality of the modern conflicts is potentially greater, and the way that conflicts are waged is more asymmetrical when compared with the wars of an earlier era. The Navy has its own unique set of stressors. Naval operations across the entire range of conflict expose naval personnel to a multitude of stressors. These stressors can lead to varied negative mental health consequences for the service personnel as well as their families. Increased deployments entail other stressful changes in the naval units as well, such as an increased number and intensity of training exercises, planning sessions, and equipment inspections, all of which increase the workload and pace of operations. Through this article, we briefly review the literature on this subject, emphasizing on stress and its types and stressors in Armed Forces, particularly the Navy. The article also dwells on early recognition of stress and timely intervention through the Stress Continuum Model.