2024 Volume 22 Issue 2 Pages 65-71
To examine stress prevention measures for Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) personnel, we reviewed the literature, mainly from Japan and the U.S., on stress and prevention measures experienced by soldiers and JSDF personnel in the U.S. and other armed forces. As a result, a vast amount of empirical research has been accumulated, especially for the U.S. military, and it was clarified that with regard to war-related PTSD, the cumulative effects of daily stress from deployment to post-discharge were more significant than those of high-intensity combat stress. On the other hand, countermeasures were implemented mainly with trauma-focused treatment that assumed high-intensity stress, but the results did not fall below the PTSD diagnostic criteria, indicating the need for combined use with trauma-defocused treatment and psychosocial approaches. In addition to preventive measures against “cumulative low-intensity stress,” the JSDF has recently emphasized the need to consider high-intensity stress. For this purpose, it was considered important to accumulate social capital inside and outside the organization on a daily basis, which at the same time could be a measure to reduce “barriers to care”.
