Constant danger and rude cultural transitions

From Once a Warrior King by David Donovan.  Page 104.

For some people, culture shock rumbled through their system the minute they stepped off the plane in Saigon; others were affected only in the most severe circumstances. In such an isolated outpost as ours one could quickly lose the psychological underpinnings that supported his normal personality. There were no friends, no family, no roads, no automobiles, no telephones, no electricity, no English language, no neighborhoods as we knew them, no American or European music, no radio, no television, no people who thought like us, looked like us, sounded like us, or even ate like us. Since all previous background and culturization had been suddenly rendered worthless, it was very difficult to establish any personal direction, purpose, or even hope. Good men and true have been rendered absolutely useless by the combined effects of constant danger and such rude cultural transitions.

It seemed to me that the best remedy for culture shock was hard work, so I made sure everyone stayed busy. I wanted to minimize the time anyone had to lie around and wonder what in the hell we were doing out here alone in the mud and the blood and the crud.