Managing Reactions
Dealing with Stress, Anger and
Depression and Finding Happiness
Dr. Elena Klaw
Raymond McDonald
Captain, US Army
Goals for Today
Warriors ethos
Warriors and happiness
Survival response effects
Addressing anxiety
Addressing anger
Addressing depression
When to get professional help
Is a Warrior Allowed to be
Happy?
Warriors have a learned tradition of stoicism
 Repression of emotion
 Indifference to pleasure
 Indifference to pain
 Indifference to external things beyond our
control
Man or woman, how does the masculine stoic
archetype (the ultimate warrior) influence
attitudes and behaviors?
Stoicism isolates:
 From selves? (mind from body)
 From others?
 From our environment?
Stoicism: The Warrior Ethos*
We leave the military…but the military never leaves us
(McDonald,2011)
No Mission Too Difficult.
Military Values
Duty
Honor
No Sacrifice Too Great. Duty First.
Motto of the First Infantry Division (“The Big Red One”)
Stoicism helped get through this
Country
Loyalty
Commitment
Respect
Selfless Service
Integrity (Say-Do
Correspondence)
Excellence
Personal Courage
Military Strength
At what cost? Happiness?
How hard are you on yourself to live these values?
How hard are you on others to live these values?
There is another way…
*the fundamental character or spirit of a culture
The Warrior Suffers Alone
The warrior has been defined by stoicism and
sacrifice (McDonald, 2011).
Historically, the warrior placed self apart from society.
SelflessnessSelf-sacrifice/Martyrdom; Moral
Superiority
Problems:
Dissociation: Mind separate from body
Contempt for non-warriors; isolation (loneliness)
Anger: inability to be with others or alone with
one’s self.
Survival Response Effects
General Adaptation Syndrome
•Alarm (Fight, Flight, or Freeze)
•Resistance (Stoicism – separate mind-body)
•Exhaustion
– Engineering: When do things break?
When the applied load (stress) exceeds
the design strength.
– prolonged stress leads to plastic
change.
Brief periods of warrior stoicism followed by
periods of recovery can be adaptive;
prolonged or repeated periods of stress
and/or insufficient recovery is maladaptive
and can lead to changes in the mind and
body e.g. memory, focus, cardiac, digestive,
sleep.
Accepting and Overcoming
Anxiety Reactions
Resilience - overcoming stressors
Systematic Desensitization – gradual
habituation to triggering stimuli
In-vivo Exposure – immersion or
confrontation with the real stressor, pair
with relaxation or reward
Imaginal exposure – training to tolerate
memories without having threat response
Results in less avoidance
Anxiety Treatment
Think about your triggers for anxiety or
overreaction
Pair imagined steps or repeated exposure
with relaxation
After multiple attempts, body will be less
reactive
Steps for Dealing with Anger
Use an anger ruler (thermometer) to
identify feelings and level
Identify attributions
Identify physical responses
Identify one’s own behavior
Use I statements
Don’t blame others for one’s reactions
Take a physical or mental time out
Use physical activity
Get help
Steps for Dealing with
Depression
Identify maladaptive pattern of thoughts
(“stinking thinking”)

Global/stable/internal – depressive triad
Identify Attributional Errors



Dichotomous thinking
Catastrophic thinking
Overgeneralization from a single incident
Challenge the evidence for the thought..
What else could you think??
When to Seek Professional
Help
If you experience significant distress or
impairment (in daily life, work, relationships, or
physical health) as a result of your symptoms
If you feel unsafe, “crazy,” or overwhelmed as a
result of your symptoms
If coping strategies may or do lead to harm to
self or others
If you have suicidal or homicidal thoughts
If others that care about you feel afraid or
worried as a result of your coping patterns e.g.
substance abuse