title: Stress and resilience in military mortuary workers: care of the dead from battlefield to home.
abstract: The death of a military service member in war provokes feelings of distress and pride in mortuary workers who process the remains. To further understand their reactions, the authors interviewed 34 military and civilian personnel to learn more about their work stresses and rewards. They review stresses of anticipation, exposure, and experience in handling the dead and explore the personal, supervisory, and leadership strategies to reduce negative effects and promote personal growth. These results can be applied to many other situations requiring planning, implementing, and supervising mortuary operations involving mass death.
authors.affiliation: a Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry , Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences , Bethesda , Maryland , USA.
authors.forename: Brian W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Flynn
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: McCarroll
authors.forename: Quinn M
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Biggs
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D003643:Death; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological / Q000379:methods; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D009027:Mortuary Practice / Q000379:methods*; D020380:Needs Assessment; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012201:Reward; D012944:Social Support; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D014857:Warfare