When the returning soldier has faced combat
Many families experience problems if their returning soldier witnessed or was involved in combat trauma during deployment. It is important to realize that these problems are in fact normal reactions to an abnormal situation – war. In some, but not all cases, time can do a great deal to heal these emotional wounds. The lasting difficulties some veterans face are not a sign of weakness. Rather, they should be considered normal stress reactions to a traumatic situation.
Recognizing Common Post-Combat Reactions
The following are common reactions after being in a war zone or combat. Again, they are “normal reactions to an abnormal situation.” Most will diminish with time.
- Feeling emotionally dead or constricted
- Feeling detached or like you just don’t fit in with others
- Feeling as if in a daze
- Feeling that life doesn’t seem real
- Inability to relate to what is important to people at home (i.e., sports, petty issues)
- Severe difficulty relating the deployment experience to others; frustration that others don’t relate as fellow soldiers did
- Feeling shaky and scared for no apparent reason
- Feeling guilty for having survived (survivor guilt)
- Feeling guilty for something done or left undone
- Feeling guilty for no apparent reason
- Irritability and/or intense anger for no apparent reason
- Heightened awareness and/or fear or mistrust of surroundings and people
- Sleep disturbances and inability to get good quality sleep
- Nightmares and/or strange dreams
- Poor concentration
- Memory problems
- Tearfulness
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