The Untold War

• Author: Alexandra Ene-Calin
• Position: Student, 'Mihai Viteazul' National Intelligence Academy, Romania
• Pages: 445-451

The Youth of Toda y - The Generation of the Global Development

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The Untold War

Alexandra Ene-Calin

1

Abstract: The application of psychology infused with principles of emotional strength and mental health

initiates performance enhancement within an individual and then collectively to a unit in the military. The

richness and intensity of psychological phenomena generated by the military environment allow us to affirm,

without the fear of being wrong, that the army is a genuine experimental laboratory of psychology. To bring

level of details to awareness in the military all must have a high developed and acute sense of situational

consciousness of the environment of operation. The most severe psychological consequences of the activities

that involve a vital risk are: fear, mental or physical exhaustion, behavioral blockage, depression and suicidal

tendencies. Beside defining and diagnosing these psychological syndromes, differential aspects are being

addressed which are relativ e to other psychological manifestations of stress, incidence in real life, its causes,

as well as means of psychological support in different phases of their missions.

Keywords: situational consciousness; physical exhaustion; behavioral blockage; psychological support

1. Introduction

Military psychology represents a corpus of theories, knowledge and practices of general psychology

applied in military activities and it is viewed from an individual, community and organizational

perspective. Therefore, there is a need to explain and predict the psychological reactions and human

behaviour in extreme conditions; a need to optimise human performance in the context of some

intense requirements; a need to prevent, diminish and treat the psychological effects which result from

the participation in physical and psychological traumatic activities; a need to adhere to the coercion of

military groups as well as to the efficiency in the commanding acts.

The richness and intensity of psychological phenomena generated by the military environment allow

us to affirm, without the fear of being wrong, that the army is a genuine experimental laboratory of

psychology.

When it comes to defining military psychology there are no controversies. All of those who tried to

define this domain agreed with what Driskell and Olmstead pointed (Driskell & Olmstead, 1989, pp.

43-44), who explain that military psychology is defined more by the nature of the field and its

application context than by a certain set of methods and techniques ( e.g. experimental psychology) or

by a set of common issues (e.g. development psychology). Some characteristic aspects of military

institutions and activities are the following:

 Authority and formal, rigid structure. The consequence of these aspects manifests itself mostly by

high exigencies regarding the capacity of adaptation to a psychosocial environment which is restrictive

and in which the human individuality is subject to a process of behavioural standardization. Military

1 Student, ―Mihai Viteazul‖ National Intelligence Academy, Romania, Address: 20, Odai Street, 1st district, Bucharest,

Romania, Tel.: +4021 410 65 50 / extension 1144, Fax: 021 310 47 50, Corresponding author: alexandra.cene@yahoo.com.