454 



PSYCHOLOGY OF STRESS 



Behavioral regression occurs when the in- 

 dividual, faced with a highly distasteful or 

 seemingly intolerable situation, finds that 

 his response patterns do not remove the 

 threat, and reverts to some previously 

 learned mode of reacting to such situations. 

 However, behavioral regression does not oc- 

 cur under such conditions unless the individ- 

 ual has previously learned to do something 

 different in the situation (61). Thus, it is 

 important that men who must act auto- 

 matically and appropriately in the face of 

 stress should be well trained under the very 

 conditions in which stress is likely to develop, 

 in order to establish "fixated responses." 

 Furthermore, the required tasks should be 

 stable and not be inconsistent over a period 

 of time, ir order to avoid regression under 

 stress to previously adaptive, but now non- 

 adaptive, responses. 



Under conditions of stress, the higher men- 

 tal processes may be so distorted that they 

 cease to serve the individual adaptively. 

 There is ample evidence in the clinical and 

 experimental literature (cf. 63, 74) to show 

 that the various cognitive processes involved 

 in a person's relation to himself (as seen in 

 such defense mechanisms as rationalization, 

 projection, self-deception, the repression of 

 undesirable wishes, thoughts, and experi- 

 ences) may be drastically affected as a result 

 of unresolved motivations, emotional ten- 

 sions, and anxieties. For similar reasons, 

 the mental processes involved in dealing 

 with the external environment (e.g., atten- 

 tion, perception, thinking, learning, remem- 

 bering) also may be drastically distorted by 

 such conscious and unconscious forces. The 

 individual's mechanisms of adjustment suffer 

 in both respects if the emotional stress is 

 sufficiently intense and prolonged. 



An individual's adjustment in terms of 

 his interpersonal relationships may be non- 

 adaptive as a result of emotional stress. 

 The weakening or collapse of the integrative 

 mechanisms may result from past or present 

 events, or may be a consequence of situa- 

 tional factors or be due to disturbances 



within the individual. Typical maladaptive 

 reactions in relation to others may involve 

 excessive and unrealistic tendencies toward 

 withdrawal or isolation from others, depend- 

 ence on others, or aggression against other 

 individuals (cf . 40) . Similar disturbances of 

 interpersonal relationships (as well as the 

 other levels of adjustment) have been ob- 

 served in laboratory animals subjected to 

 stress sufficient to produce maladaptive or 

 "neurotic" behavior patterns (cf. 3, 47, 51, 

 52, 60). 



In conclusion, in appraising the causes and 

 results of emotional stress, it is important 

 to keep in mind that the total individual is 

 involved in his relation to the stress-produc- 

 ing situation, and in his attempted adjust- 

 ment to it. This is particularly true of the 

 various disturbances of overt behavior, the 

 higher mental processes, and the interper- 

 sonal relationships. In these cases, the con- 

 nection is rather loose between the cause of 

 the breakdown of the individual's adaptive 

 mechanism and the various behavioral mani- 

 festations, and in addition, if one area is in- 

 volved, it is likely that the others are also. 

 The psychosomatic disturbances, however, 

 may show a fairly close tie between the 

 pattern of the individual's emotional ad- 

 justment and the manifest symptoms, which 

 in turn may not involve, to any appreciable 

 degree, disturbances on the more complex 

 levels of adjustment. But in any case, the 

 individual afflicted by the breakdown of any 

 of his adaptive mechanisms is less in com- 

 mand of his native and acquired abilities to 

 cope with and master the stress-producing 

 situation, so that his over-all adjustment is 

 impaired. 



Some Research Proposals 



Analysis of the Submarine Situation 



In the first place, it seems highly desirable 

 to make a complete, explicit, and objective 

 analysis of all aspects of the submarine sit- 

 uation. This analysis should include the 

 activities and conditions that characterize 



