Effects Of War On Military Families

We have all seen or read about the political and social upheavals caused by war. Some may have even experienced it first-hand. Throughout history war has had negative psychological implications on those effected. However, there is no greater negative impact of war than the psychological and emotional turmoil that it causes individual soldiers.

To summarize (Kaplow, Layne, Saltztman, Cozza & Pynoos, 2013, p. 322-340) this article looks at how grief through exposure to loss due to combat fights, loss of fellow unit members, or the loss of a service member can affect a service member or military family during deployment and reintegration phases. The article goes on to discuss some of the stresses that can increase due to deployments such as martial conflicts, abuse or neglect, and mental health problems stemming from both spouses or children. More military children function equally as well as their civilian counterparts, except during times of deployment where they experience more emotional and behavioral problems. The article looks at three key areas Separation distress characterized as missing the deceased. Existential/Identity Distress finding meaning or fulfillment, or taking on roles left by the deceased. Circumstance-Related Distress characterized as emotional pain brought on by how the deceased passed. The article furthermore looks into how the age of the military children plays into their separation distress. Followed by their existential/identity Distress may be disrupted by new

Military families live all across the United States and more than likely you know at least one or you, yourself, are actually a military family. In the excerpt from “Military Children and Families” by Nansook Park, Park argues that greater attention needs to be established by psychologists towards military families in order to implement more effective programs to help support military families. To support her argument, Nansook Park uses an effective amount of pathos and logos, citing credible psychological studies and along with pathos and logos, she uses ethos as well.

The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, transports the reader into the minds of veterans of the Vietnam conflict. The Vietnam War dramatically changed Tim O’Brien and his comrades, making their return home a turbulent and difficult transition. The study, titled, The War at Home: Effects of Vietnam-Era Military Service on Post-War Household Stability, uses the draft lottery as a “natural experiment” on the general male population. The purpose of the NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) study is to determine the psychological effects of the Vietnam War on its veterans. In order to do this, they tested four conditions, marital stability, residential stability, housing tenure, and extended family living. However, it

September 1st, 1939 is a day that changed the course of history. Lives were lost, families ripped apart, towns destroyed, and jobs were created. World War II had just begun with the majority of the main countries in our world participating in the war that would ultimately kill millions of soldiers and civilians. Two years later, on December 8th, 1941 after the Japanese surprisingly attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States entered the war fully. During this time, the U.S. enlisted the help of the entire nation; soldiers, factory workers, nurses, and doctors were required both overseas and on the home front. While many men were sent to fight over-seas or prepare at combat training on bases in the U.S., factories and other business were left with a shortage of workers. World War II encouraged, or more accurately, forced, women and wives to leave their homes to begin working. A familiar image that many Americans are familiar with is of the women flexing announcing “We Can Do It!”, which is greatly recognized as a symbol of the female presence in the workforce. Young adults dropped out of school to help out in numerous ways. The amount of children working also increased greatly. Desperate measures to save money and help in the wartime effort lead to many drastic changes in roles and lifestyles of American families on the home front.

There is a large amount of military families around the world. About Forty- three percent of active military members have children (Website). These children face so many challenges and struggles in their life while having a parent in the military. Children of Active duty military members exhibit anxiety, depression and stress just as much as the service members and spouses experience. For instance the children experience going through multiple deployments, long separations, frequent moves and awkward reunions when their parents return home from deployment. Even more so if the parent has been physically or mentally traumatized from overseas.

During World War II, children, women and families worked tirelessly and contributed to aiding the soldiers during their perilous fights. In 1939 through 1945, American families came together and as a community to work the hardest they ever have. Families helped one another to hold up their country with the absence of their men. “Wear it out, use it up, make it do, or do without.” (qtd. In FDR and The American Crisis), were words stressed to the women and children for support. The sacrifices the families made on the homefront, became just as paramount as the battlefronts. If the choices that were made didn’t prevail, the success of the war wouldn’t have ensued.

In 2004 Operation Iraqi Freedom became the deadliest American military conflict since the Vietnam War. Military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and Vietnam have brought heightened awareness of military related PTSD, as well as the relationship and family problems that accompany the disorder. Studies have shown that 11% - 20% of Veterans that served in Iraq and 6% - 11% of veterans that were deployed to Afghanistan have suffered from PTSD. Veterans of operation Desert Storm suffer at a rate of about 10% and Vietnam veteran estimates have been as high as 30% – 50%.

Through the symbols and characters, the story clearly shows the mental influence of the war on veterans. The veterans face a lot of hardship not only in the war time but also after the war when they try to get on well with the society. The problem is not a coincident because it happens to the majority of veterans in various ways. It costs a great number of lives and leaves unspeakable long-term troubles on economy, society, family, civilians, and especially veterans. Nowadays, the wars still occur around the world in different forms, such as terrorism. It raises the fright on people and veterans. As a result, the meaningless wars, which only lead to death, must be prohibited. There is always another option to solve a conflict without violence.

PTSD is an incapacitating emotional roller coaster that affects the lives of many who have experienced a traumatic event. Not only does the concern of PTSD impact survivor’s lives, but it can have an impact on the entire family or those who are close to the individual with the disorder. “PTSD can take a heavy toll on the family if you let it. It can be hard to understand why your loved one won’t open up to you” (Segal, Smith, 2014). The traumatic stress can trigger episodes where the survivor re-experiences the emotional event, causing intimacy issues, trust and social issues with their relationships. How both cultures and communities impacted me that may be perceived as normal vs. abnormal? How has stigma played a role in my mental illness?

PTSD affects an individual’s relationship with family or friends. These effects the person would get is a problem with trust, closeness, communication and problem solving with livelihood within the family, and may cause a divide within the family of how to control the symptoms of PTSD (PTSD: National Center for PTSD, 2007). The community gets affected with PTSD by examples such as Natural Disasters in which it can lead to more violence, unemployment or other bad effects (PTSD: National Center for PTSD, 2011).

In that situation families are left with women to provide and protect the household, as they now have to live by themselves and the children. Families that reside in unsafe neighborhood face high risk of rubbery and kidnaping. The anxiety and mental struggle of children of service members is heart breaking, because of the fear of a potential future without the guidance of their father. These families tune up news in hope to hear good outcomes about their loved one. Some of them unfortunately have to deal with the gap left by the peers as they become permanent. They now have to move on in grief while continuing the struggle with their daily routine. The absence of military members does not only have repercussions in the families but also affect the communities. This is a reduction of valuable capable men, it is a workforce that could be use to create and improve the communities. The lost of communities leader, and good professional or entrepreneurs for the cause of war is a set back for those communities. Its delays work already in progress and caused lost of jobs as the city or state replace the workforce in order to meet the deadline. The lucky ones that return from deployments end up jobless and possibly homeless. At the end of the day, going to war means putting the citizen of the country at risk and difficult hardship, it is creating new issues that need to be addressed by the use of financial resources.

Hearing the emotions behind their tone really spoke to me and how they wish they could provide more for their children and loved ones. Service members who are married and have children are granted a housing allowance to help pay for a place for them to stay. While talking with these families, I learned that the housing allowance is typically not enough to live in an typical middle income house or apartment. By having this opportunity, I was touched while also gaining a large amount of prospective onto what their lives are like.

Deployment and integration are one the greatest challenges military families and children have to face on a daily basis. When a family member deploys or reintegrates within the entire family, it not only affects the service member but it affects the entire family. Deployment can often lead to families and children, experiencing a negative mental health outcomes and compromised wellbeing. Bello (2015) found that most families and children (80.5% required less than one month to adjust to the return of their deployed parent (Bello, 2015). Accordingly, the families and children are often quick to adjust to having their family member back in the home. Interestingly, discoveries are surprising in light of the fact that when contrasted to another family, the discoveries are definitely unique. Boberiene (2014) found that three out of every four families feel that reintegration after the first three months is the most stressful phase of a deployment (Boberiene, 2014). This is because the family experiences many emotions while the member is away.

The target groups, both direct and indirect, are represented by all walks of life from families from a full spectrum of social characteristics and economic conditions. From single parent homes to two parent homes, financially secure to families on the brink of poverty, almost every ethnicity and racial group that exists. It is full representation of a military community.