Page 66 - 2020 JSOM Winter

Once during an exercise, I broke a rib and I was sit- helped them endure physical and mental stress in training,
ting in the ditch in the rain thinking, “How will I en- on deployment, and while performing job-specific tasks.
dure this for three whole days?” But then I thought, When attempting to recover from a long high-tempo period
“Well, the rib is already broken, so you can go home or deployment, many members reported needing personal
or you can stay and finish the training, but in ei- time to recover. For a substantial number of participants,
ther place your rib will still be broken, but if you go this referred to alone time working on hobbies or personal
home, then you’ll be off exercise and you’ll be sad projects (e.g., working on cars, fishing, hunting, driving).
you didn’t finish.” For others, this referred to disconnecting and relaxing (e.g.,
binging on television series on Netflix, reading). Many par-
However, one participant noted that this determination, com- ticipants also mentioned using physical activity to both re-
bined with the “we will find a way” ethos of the organization, sist and recover from a stressful period. Many participants
had created a drive to succeed that could harm the individ- described how working out, running, or participating in in-
ual. Additionally, some participants reported that their strong dividual or team sports had given them the time and space
work ethic had prevented them from asking for recovery time to disconnect, process difficult events, and flush out negative
because they believed they should not need it: emotions:
It’s almost like the motto “We will find a way,” some- I’ve always found physical fitness has been im-
times, it feels like “We won’t take no for an answer.” portant. Something is bothering me, I go for a run.
I don’t think the culture allows room for failure. Working out allows me to process things. Also, being
physically fit gives me more focus. You’re taking the
Several participants also mentioned that being easygoing, pos- anxiety away from the decision when you work your
itive, and having a sense of humor were important for their body. You can’t clench your fist and run.
resilience. Being positive allowed them to reframe problems
as challenges to overcome, and humor helped them maintain Social Level
this mindset: Almost two thirds of participants indicated that their team
members were a key source of support and contributed to their
I’m thinking, it has to start with your overall atti- ability to stay resilient. Participants reported feeling connected
tude. If you have a positive attitude about a lot of to their “brotherhood” (i.e., team members) and indicated there
things, your life is good. If you don’t like your job, was a high level of camarderie in CANSOFCOM units. Team
you’re probably not going to be good at it. If you members were in the unique position of understanding the
don’t like your relationship, it’s probably going to experiences, stresses, and challenges of the position. Perhaps
bleed into other parts of your life. because of this deep understanding of the role, combined with
the high level of trust and connection between team members,
Participants also discussed a number of coping techniques they participants often reported that they discussed things with their
had used to maintain resilience. Several participants indicated team members that they would not discuss with their families:
that they compartmentalized their work stress or family stress
to continue to perform at work or to maintain family function- So CANSOF has a lot more camaraderie. If you’re
ing at home. Participants often reported wanting to keep work having a problem, it’s way too easy to reach out to
stress from negatively affecting their time at home with their your team or hang out with someone who was on
families and not wanting any family stress to negatively impact your team before. They would drop what they were
their performance at work. Compartmentalization of stress doing to come hang out with you.
over a short period allowed members to focus and increase per-
formance; however, long-term negative emotions needed to be Many participants also reported that support from their team
processed to maintain well-being. Emotional suppression was members would encourage them to access care. Specifically, if
another coping strategy mentioned by some members, which a teammate suggested they access care or mentioned that they
involves the suppression of negative emotions to perform bet- had seen concerning changes in them (e.g., outbursts of anger)
ter at work, especially on operations. However, one participant that they would be more motivated to seek care.
noticed that long-term emotional suppression had permanently
decreased his emotional capacity, which reduced his ability to Many participants also indicated that their family was a key
connect and form emotional ties, causing stress at home: source of support; however, the nature of the support was dif-
ferent. Whereas team members contributed by supporting the
My emotional capacity, I’ve probably lost most of it member with occupational stress, family support was more
because of where I work. I don’t have an emotional related to one’s partner’s ability to manage the household ef-
spike anymore. My wife tells me often that I’ve lost fectively and alleviate family stress:
that empathetic part of myself. I don’t know why,
I’m not empathetic anymore. [. . .] I think I’ve been I don’t know how she does it [talking about his
at work so much that, at times, I treat my family spouse]. I love her to death. After everything was
like another task. I’m used to logical progression. It said and done, passing [SOF course], going on tour,
shouldn’t be like that. and coming back, I was [in another city] on my war-
rant’s course, straight from [there] to here, start in
Finally, many participants mentioned that they coped with February, done in August. She packed up the house
stress by focusing on the stressor’s endpoint or their ulti- [at our previous base], bought a house, met me here,
mate goal. Participants indicated that focusing on the end and then I was gone for six months.

64 | JSOM Volume 20, Edition 4 / Winter 2020