麻豆原创

The stereotype of the shell-shocked military veteran, rendered non-functional, suicidal or dangerous by repeated exposure to unthinkable violence, is obscuring a far more wide-spread set of issues that are hampering many veterans in their efforts to live productive, fulfilling lives.

According to a new paper by researchers from , the most frequent source of problems for veterans is the return to the dramatically different circumstances of civilian life. The resulting 鈥渢ransition stress鈥� can arise from difficulties finding a job, working with civilian colleagues, and getting along with family and friends.

Noting that transition stress has been found to predict 鈥渢he later development of mental and physical health problems, including suicidal ideation,鈥� the authors argue that the needs of most returning military veterans who struggle with psychological or emotional issues are not being met by current treatments and research, both of which focus almost exclusively on PTSD. They call for a paradigm shift that includes 鈥渁 broader clinical and research agenda regarding veteran psychological health,鈥� especially the development of studies 鈥渂eginning at entry level basic training and continuing while soldiers are in active duty and then repeatedly after they complete their military service.鈥� 

[ The Courage to Ask Tough Questions: 麻豆原创 doctoral student Meaghan Mobbs, who served in Afghanistan, is calling for a paradigm shift in treatment and research for veterans ]

The paper, titled 鈥�,鈥� will appear in the February 2018 issue of Clinical Psychology Review, and is already available online. The authors are clinical psychology doctoral student Meaghan Mobbs, a West Point graduate who commanded an aerial delivery detachment in Afghanistan and is now the David and Maureen O鈥機onnor Scholar at Teachers College; and George Bonanno, Professor of Clinical Psychology, a world-renowned authority on grief, loss and trauma who is the RC Resilience Center Director. 

Mobbs and Bonanno do not question 鈥渢he serious and debilitating nature of PTSD. But they contrast research showing that PTSD afflicts fewer than 10 percent of post 9/11 veterans with 鈥渞ecent population survey studies鈥� suggesting that 鈥�44 percent to 72 percent of veterans experience high levels of stress during the transition to civilian life.鈥� Moreover, they assert that difficulties with transition are reported at 鈥渉igher, more difficult levels for post-9/11 veterans than those who served in any other previous conflict.鈥�

More than 1.7 million soldiers who were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have returned to civilian life and 1 million more are expected to do so by 2022.

Why is transition itself often such a difficult experience? The vast majority of active soldiers are between the ages of 18 and 25, the period known as 鈥渆merging adulthood,鈥� which Mobbs and Bonanno characterize as a time of 鈥渞apid development and considerable vulnerability鈥� While in the armed services, they are inducted into 鈥渁n institutionalized lifestyle鈥� that includes 鈥渃oncentrated unremitting supervision; intense physical training; and a powerful group experience in which relationships 鈥渁re consequently described by many veterans as some of the closest they form in their lives.鈥�

Yet upon leaving the military 鈥� for many, the first time they have lived on their own or managed their own finances 鈥� veterans often find themselves coping with challenges that can include grief and bereavement over comrades killed in action; low-end jobs that, compared with being a soldier, seem meaningless or humiliating; overwhelming nostalgia for life in the service (the majority of vets wish they could return to active duty); intense guilt or shame over war-time actions that in some way violated their own moral codes; stereotype threat from civilians who expect them to be 鈥渆ither broken warriors or unhinged and armed鈥�; and their own stoicism, bred by a masculine military culture, which is often a barrier to seeking help or treatment. The latter problem has exacted a pronounced toll on female veterans, among whom the suicide rate has doubled compared to civilian women between 2001 and 2014.

There is 鈥渘o panacea鈥� for the wide-ranging issues associated with transition stress, according to Mobbs and Bonanno. Rather, efforts to improve veterans鈥� lives must begin with recognition that 鈥渢reatments and supports need to move beyond their nearly exclusive focus on PTSD鈥� and that more and different research is needed to understand precisely how transition stresses play out for different kinds of individuals. To that end, later this spring Mobbs and Bonanno will begin a study in which they will follow 600 active-duty soldiers into civilian life, with repeated follow-up over a period of years. The study is funded by David and Maureen O鈥機onnor, whose generous gift in 2015 established the Teachers College Resilience Center for Veterans and Families.

鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to see that research from the 麻豆原创 Resilience Center is shaping new directions in supporting our veterans and understanding their needs,鈥� says David O鈥機onnor, who is Senior Managing Partner, High Rise Capital Partners, LLC, and a member of the Investment Committee of Teachers College's Board of Trustees,. 鈥淭he sacrifices that veterans make are enormous, and we owe it to them to ensure that these findings are put into practice on a broad scale.鈥�

Previous work by George Bonanno has demonstrated the vast majority of people are far more resilient to grief and psychological trauma than was previously thought; that grieving is a non-linear process that follows no set pattern; and that a quality called flexibility 鈥� the ability to adapt one鈥檚 emotional response to different circumstances 鈥� best predicts resilience to potentially scarring life events.

Published Wednesday, Dec 20, 2017