Mental health articles

Stress During Separations A great deal of emphasis has recently been placed on stress and challenges experienced by families who remain at home during deployments.
Indeed, separations due to military exercises, school attendance, or deployment can have substantial negative effects on the psychological and physical well-being of military family members, even more so than other aspects of military life such as the risk of injury or death, relocations, or foreign residence .
Of equal concern is the stress due to family separation experienced by service members when they are deployed. With the increased presence of technologyassisted communications, service members have unprecedented contact, sometimes on a daily basis, with their families. Although increased communication may help service members feel closer to their families, it also can be frustrating to be aware
of daily hassles without the ability to more fully address them. Research shows that having a spouse present serves as a stabilizing force for military members. For example, Bray, Spira, and Lane found that single service members and married servicemembers who had deployed without their spouses had higher rates of mental health problems and behavioral problems compared to their counterparts who were married
and whose spouses were present.

Tags: stress