Emotional Distress in the Workplace : Counseling: When soldiers ship off, their loved ones are often left in turmoil. Some Carl’s Jr. employees will soon be receiving free assistance.

Angela Biletnickoff is having a tough time coping.

Distraught over the unfolding Persian Gulf War, in which her husband is participating, she finds it more difficult than ever to perform her duties as a shift supervisor at a Carl’s Jr. restaurant here.

Minor irritations set off explosions of temper. Bothersome customers draw hard looks, and mistakes by colleagues prompt harsh reprimands.

“Because I don’t have control over my husband’s situation, I have a need in my life to have control in other areas,” said Biletnickoff at the restaurant which flies a giant American flag in honor of the soldiers from the adjacent Camp Pendleton.

She is not alone. A quarter of the 36 employees of this Carl’s Jr. outlet have close relatives at the war front. Seven of the women have husbands in the Middle East, and another has a father there. Yet another has a brother-in-law, a respiratory therapist, who is assigned to a hospital ship--poised to lend a hand if chemical weapons are launched.

In many ways, their workplace is part of the conflict half a world away. Their lives and jobs have been disrupted like never before. While they find solace together, they also constantly remind one another of the uncertainties of war.

The atmosphere at the restaurant has become so charged that Manager Jose Casas has asked officials at Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc., the Anaheim-based owner of the Carl’s Jr. chain, to provide them free counseling. A company spokesman said a support group is expected to be established by the employee assistance program within two weeks.

“As a store manager, I have sleepless nights,” Casas said. “I have a responsibility to keep up morale and keep everyone in harmony.”

It has been difficult at times. Biletnickoff said that when one person recently brought his own cup into the store, filled it and started to leave without paying, rage welled up inside of her. She even thought about throwing the soda in his face.

She knows these inward and outward outbursts are related to the stress of having her rifleman husband, John, on a ship in the Middle East. It has been that way since he shipped out Dec. 1. “It was hard for me. He left at 2 a.m., and I had to go to work at 5 a.m. I was crying over the french fries machine,” she said.

One of her co-workers, Maria Sanson, the wife of another Marine, said she has broken out in a rash from the stress and has trouble concentrating on the job. She has made a lot of errors recently when adding up receipts at the end of her shift. When her boss complained, she broke down in tears.

These women not only worry about the safety of their family members--none of the Marines are in the same unit or know each other--but also are facing more family responsibilities than ever before. Sometimes these pressures interfere with their jobs.

On Monday, for instance, Sanson had to take a day off to drive her 2-year-old son, Joshua, to the doctor for treatment for the flu. When her husband was working on the base, she said, he usually ran such errands so she wouldn’t have to miss work.

Sanson said it hurts to serve the families that come to eat at the restaurant because they remind her of how much she misses her husband, Steve, a Marine corporal, who left Aug. 15 and is now with ground troops in the desert.

“Since he left, I have been making a lot of mistakes on my paperwork,” Sanson said.

She said her supervisor has suggested that she take some time off to relax. But she said she can’t afford to do so because of financial and emotional reasons. Working, she said, keeps her from thinking so much about her troubles.

A desire for distraction is also a reason why 15-year-old Yvette Begil, a San Clemente High School freshman, has taken part-time work as a cashier at Carl’s. She said she is worried about her mother who just “sits in front of the TV all day watching the news.”