So much of the discussion around mental health in veterans revolves around post-traumatic stress disorder. Those that serve can experience significant trauma, and that trauma does have the potential to cause issues like PTSD.
But the military’s affect on a person’s mental health extends far beyond PTSD. There are so many issues that can arise because of a person’s time serving – and what happens after – that can lead to mental health issues unique to veterans and the armed services.
How Being a Veteran Can Affect Mental Health
Before we get into examples of the ways that serving can affect a person’s mental health, it’s also important to remember that issues can also arise with no relationship to the military. Veterans are still people, and anyone and everyone is at risk for developing mental health disorders.
Still, being a veteran also has the potential to cause issues that are specific to service, especially *ending* service. For example:
- Change
One of the most significant issues that can influence a person’s mental health negatively is just change. When a person leaves their military service, they are experiencing a significant change – the structure of the military, to the normal day to day of civilian life. All change, for all people, has the potential to trigger anxiety and depression, and this new change is no different.
- Addiction
Addiction can go hand in hand with PTSD. But it can also occur independently as a result of the experiences of being in the military, without the associating PTSD. It is often a trauma response, but can also occur simply because a person did not learn to effectively deal with day to day stress while they were serving.
- Disability
One reason that people are forced out of service is because of disability and injuries that occurred while serving. But chronic pain, adjusting to life with disability, and more can all be difficult adjustments. Chronic pain, especially, is often directly related to depression, but also disabled life itself, even without pain, can be a very hard adjustment for people to make, and that is something more likely to occur in those that served.
- “Normal Life”
Those that served have been living a very specific lifestyle for years. Once they’re out of service, the adjustment to “normal” life comes with a host of challenges. For example, a person may find that their relationships struggle as they learn to be together full time. Or they may find that they haven’t yet learned how to cope with “boring” things like paying bills, and issues like depression can be the result.
- Losing Order
In the military, your day is scheduled for you. The freedom that comes from being out of the military can be difficult for many people to cope with. It’s new and it’s challenging, and many people do not know how to adjust to not having their schedules set for them in ways that cause confusion, anxiety, and more.
Only the Beginning
These issues are only some of many examples of the ways that serving in the armed forces can affect a person’s mental health in the short and long term. Focusing on PTSD – which is a big issue, but certainly not the only one – can cause people to lose track of all of the other challenges that may arise, or feel like they’re not as important.
Your mental health matters. If you’re someone that is struggling to come to terms with their mental health challenges, no matter your background, you deserve to get help. Reach out to Long Island Counseling Services today to get started.