Tuesday, August 25, 2009 WASHINGTON: Commanders have introduced the $117m initiative to help troops handle their stress before it becomes debilitating and leads to mental illness. From October 1 all active-duty, reserve and National Guard soldiers will be required to take a “resiliency” test to assess their emotional, spiritual and physical state.“How often do you feel that you lack friendship?” and “How often do you feel left out?” are among the 170 questions. Answers will remain confidential, but soldiers will be asked to choose a resiliency training programme based on their individual results. The army wants to train 1,500 sergeants by next summer to teach weekly 90-minute anger management classes designed to reduce stress and help troops avoid depression and suicidal thoughts. Brigadier General Rhonda Cornum, who is overseeing the programme, said: "This was developed because we recognised that we did really did not have a good preventive and strengthening model for psychologi...
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