| 7 Issues that Inform you about Readjustment, Intervention, Family Support, Diagnosis and A New Life Ahead
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Behaviors of Veteran Readjustment Problems and The Impact to Family and Friends
Understanding our veteran-loved-ones after they have returned home can be
difficult. The emotions to deal with include relief, hope, and a desire for
things to "return to normal". Then, there are the emotions and behaviors
of our veterans who have lived in and through extreme conditions that are
anything BUT "normal".
There are varying degrees of challenges. The longer the veteran was away,
the closer and the more frequent the veteran was to active warfare, the age of
the veteran and the martial status of the veteran all have effect on the
veterans readjustment at home. Every veteran is different and so is every
family, but there are some common "readjustment problems".
This chart may help you to identify behaviors in the veteran and you
and/or the family/friends of the veteran. Identifying and understanding
where and how these problems originate can provide a starting point of
change. However, readjustment is not about blame or changing the veteran,
it is about learning to LIVE with the after effects that war has had
upon the veterans we love.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If any of these "readjustment problems" become
extreme enough that it begins to consistently and negatively effect the
veteran and the family, then SEEK HELP IMMEDIATELY. The SOONER you
get help, the BETTER. These problems do not go away by themselves. If you or
your veterans civilian job(s) are jeopardized, your family’s safety and well
being is compromised, there are legal and financial problems that begin to
present themselves after returning that were minor or not present prior to
wartime, then you and your veteran need help.
Definitions:
Veteran Survival Skill: Each skill listed is actually a "War
Zone Skill" that kept the veteran alive during active warfare. He/she
trained and lived intensely exaggerated and extreme behaviors to prepare
for and meet the potential dangers they would experience.
Veteran Readjustment Behaviors: These are the "skills/behaviors"
that kept the veteran alive during war which become skills/behaviors that
can cause the veteran problems in the civilian world.
Impact to Family and Friends: The veteran’s
wartime-learned-behaviors that are being acted out at home, start to
change how members of the family and friends act and react to the veteran
and slowly begin to erode the relationships.
Please read the "Vet and Family Information Booklet" by James Munroe,
Social Worker Boston VA, 2006 revised edition from which this list was
adapted. This link provides a Microsoft Word attachment with the full
Booklet for which permission was given to share.
| Survival Skills |
Veteran Readjustment Behaviors |
Impact to Family & Friends |
| Safety |
Hyper arousal (sensitive to loud noises, crowds, light,
etc.) |
The family begins to adjust their life around the
veteran and attempts to reduce things that might trigger the veteran’s
fear and arousal. Soon, the family is living in the veteran’s world of
fear for safety. Examples: Family tries to be more quiet in the house,
doesn’t ask the veteran to go "out" into public with them for fear the
veteran may become anxious and irritable, changes channels on the
television when war related or disturbing news is being broadcast, etc. |
| Anger |
Quick Temper, Over sensitivity, Confrontational
Yelling, Verbal/Physical Abuse |
The family begins to "walk on eggshells" for fear that
the veteran will "go off" on them. Family members begin to behave
differently; they may "keep things" from the veteran that may anger him.
They may avoid the veteran.
They may feel the need to protect the veteran from confrontational
situations. Soon, the family/friends start to become angry themselves. |
| Predictability |
Unpredictable, Avoids plans and people, Can’t keep a
job, Can’t keep appointments |
The family begins to think that the veteran doesn’t
care about them, that the veteran is lazy and inconsiderate and
deceptive. Soon, family and friends begin to quit "counting" on the
veteran and may stop helping them entirely or schedule their whole lives
around the veteran’s unpredictability.
Examples: Appointments for doctors are made and not kept, special
occasions that have been planned are avoided by the veteran, etc. |
Mission
Orientation |
Lack of initiative, "All or Nothing" behavior,
Avoidance, Living in Extremes |
Family and friends begin to notice that the veteran
either totally avoids tasks/ life circumstances or is fully engaged to
the extreme. Sometimes it seems like the veteran can’t do what needs to
be done without being told, but then is resistant to being told. Or
other times, the veteran becomes so focused on a task that they loose
orientation of day/time. They may work day and night at a seemingly
non-essential task, only to crash and burn in the end.
The family begins to accept this behavior as "normal" and their lives
begin to revolve around whatever "extreme" the veteran is living in.
They may become encouraged when a veteran DOES take initiative, and
might put their responsibilities on hold, change their own plans or
their world revolves around whatever "mission orientation"/"all or
nothing" mode the veteran is in. |
| Decision
Making |
Gives orders to others, Cannot make a decision, Avoids
making decisions, Does not discuss solutions, Becomes frustrated when
asked to make a decision |
Once again, the impact to family and friends can be one
extreme or the other. If the veteran was an officer he/she may be more likely to
order family members around and have an expectation that the order is
followed. Or, the other extreme may be that the veteran cannot decide
what to do and avoids making seemingly simple decisions.
Either way, there becomes less and less mutual communication in the
relationships. Working together as a give-and-take team seems impossible
because the veteran knows no in-between, only the extremes that he/she
lived in during active duty. |
Response
Tactics |
Act first, think later, Use of threats or violence, Use
of intimidation, Anger when things are "out of place" |
Having everything "ready" to respond immediately to
danger kept veteran alive. However, when returning home and imposing
those behaviors on the family, it can become overwhelming, intense and
even frightening.
Examples can be a veteran "going off" on a loved one if anything
seems out of place. This could be an item that has been moved, to taking
a different route home, to being angry if tasks are not completed. The
family becomes fearful of the person they love because their behaviors
are extreme and disproportionate to the situation and they don’t seem to
be able to understand nor control what they are doing. |
| Intelligence |
Secrecy, Isolation, Unsocial, Suspicious, Controlling |
Little by little, the veteran begins to display an
unwillingness to "connect" with anyone about anything. They withdraw
from social activities and do not communicate their thoughts, feelings
or needs. They seem to be suspicious and sometimes even paranoid about
everyday affairs.
The family begins to think that the veteran is lying and/or trying to
control everything. They, too, become suspicious of the veterans
behavior. They start to "disconnect" themselves from interaction with
the veteran and sometimes with the outside world. In other words, the
family begins to adapt to the veterans behavior in the same ways the
veteran is adapting to coming home. |
| Emotions |
Numb, Cold/Indifferent, No joy |
In order to survive the horror of war, and to be able
to take action immediately, the veteran has learned to numb feelings.
Not only have the feelings been numbed, but they have been "stuffed"
since the veteran had no opportunity to "process" what was happening to
them. They had to learn this skill to survive.
However, since there is no "unlearning" upon return, the veteran
continues to behave the same. Family members begin to notice that there
is little or no emotional sensitivity…the one emotion that is in tact is
anger, which fueled them to survive. But sadness, compassion, fear,
grief, etc. can become nonexistent since to have such emotions would
make the veteran vulnerable in time of danger. The family recognizes
that they cannot talk of or express emotions in a healthy manner as it
may be received by the veteran uncaringly. The family may also notice
that the veteran uses alcohol or drugs of any kind more in an effort to
numb the feelings. Chemical abuse is a by-product of war behaviors that
have not been readjusted to civilian life.
The family system becomes as sick as the veteran as the family
futilely attempts to connect with the veteran who has been living in
extremes and may also be becoming chemically dependent. |
| Authority |
Distrust, Hostility, Defiance, Resentment, Opposition |
The family may notice that the veteran is defiant and
distrustful of authority; boss, police, etc. and that they, in fact,
almost create and/or look for situation to display open hostility to
authority.
Examples of this may include conflict at work and subsequent
inability to hold a job. It may include getting speeding tickets and
"blowing up" at police officers.
Continued loss of employment and employment opportunities and
continued run-ins with the law compromise the families financial and
emotional security. |
| Closeness |
Intense relational emotions, Pushing away loved ones,
Avoidance of "closeness" |
Getting close to someone at war can be dangerous to the
veteran as it may cost him his life and ability to use life saving
skills.
However, this skill translated to the civilian world can cause the
veteran to "push away" the very people that love him/her most. They do
so by being unable/unwilling to let their "guard" down and building a
barrier to intimacy. They will not share or express emotion. They will
not tell you what they want or need. They can feel unworthy of being
loved because of what they have seen or done and "push away" people that
do love them. |
| Trust |
Suspicious, "Testing", Loner, Resistant |
Deeply underlying all issues is that of trust.
Fundamental to our human growth and development is the ability to trust
others. Veterans have been taught to solely trust their command, even
when their instincts told them otherwise and their trust has many times,
been betrayed. They have been taught to basically trust mankind, yet
they have seen the horrors that man perpetrates on man. They may have
been taught to trust God, but their wartime experience may cause them to
question if there is one, and if there is, why the sorrows of war
continue.
At the heart of each of the readjustment challenges is trust.
Examples of the impact on the family is that the veteran may be paranoid
or suspicious of all relationships and may even sabotage them by testing
them with "push-pull" relationship behaviors that are very, very
confusing to those that love them. The veteran may insist on handling
things alone and may be resistant to communication and compromise that
is essential for healthy relationships. Family members begin to distrust
the veteran as much as the veteran distrusts others and the gap in
relationships grows wider because both sides are becoming distrustful. |
| The Enemy |
Avoidance, Paranoia, Suspicion,
Tenseness, "Danger" sensitive |
For the veteran, it is sometimes difficult to use
discernment…"who is the enemy?" can be a constant, nagging suspicion
even with people they love. The veterans avoidance of people and
activities, their paranoia and suspicion and the resulting tension keep
the family on pins and needles.
An energy level of tension and anxiety is pervasive in every facet of
life. Whether at a restaurant, mall, in the car or at the park, the
veteran is "keyed up" and unable to let his/her guard down. The
over-spilling anxiety to the family results in less and less joy in
activities and then participating less and less with one another and
then isolation and alienation.
The veteran will not "talk" about "it" or anything other than surface
affairs and with each incident, seems to withdraw more and the family
further apart from one another. |
If any of the above situations are occurring in your family, please
seek assistance. These are REAL issues that will not just "go away",
but can be confronted lovingly and gently. The main thing to recognize is
that the veteran is not PURPOSELY trying to hurt you or the ones he/she
loves. Families need help and the veterans need help to work through these
very real issues and back into healthy family dynamics..
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Disclaimer: Veterans' Families United Foundation does not guarantee
results or outcome of the information provided in any of its materials. |
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