Hey guys, it's Adam.
Today I wanted to talk a little bit about emotional experiences
and situations for individuals who are returning from a deployment
or coming back from a combat zone who maybe have suffered a traumatic brain injury
or some kind of other traumatic event that really plays with their emotions.
I know myself and others who have come back from a deployment
and emotionally they've been on kind of a roller coaster.
They've had all kinds of emotions that they weren't experiencing before.
Coming back to a more stable environment like a garrison activity or the States
would put people in a very different mindset
and can, quite honestly, be very confusing for people.
So one of the things that I think I personally have experienced but others have
is kind of a vicious cycle of returning, getting acclimated,
having your laissez-faire "I don't care" attitude up and running,
and that's not congruent with civilian life
and kind of the more calm and stable atmosphere.
What that does is it creates this situation where you're getting yourself all worked up,
all worked up, only because you're not able to kind of fit in and connect emotionally
the way you may have thought you did before.
So you get worked up and you start getting all angry about it,
and that only puts you in a worse situation to deal with other interactions
and control your emotions further.
So it's kind of like this vicious cycle that just goes round and around and around,
and it can be very complicating for people.
But one thing that really I recommend doing is just try and recognize that.
The more self-recognition and self-awareness you have--
in the military you learn situational awareness, so it's the same concept.
The more personal awareness you have and recognition of your emotional level
or kind of your temperament is something that's going to help you find that balance
and that medium and level things out when you do work yourself into a stressful situation
or you find yourself in a stressful situation.
So try that, see how it works, and let me know.
Post some comments. Let everybody know how it goes. Thanks.
Show transcript | Print transcript
For some service members and veterans like Adam, returning from a depolyment can feel like riding an emotional rollercoaster. He recommends trying to recognize these emotions, to become more self-aware as a way to break the vicious cycle of intense emotions and frustration.
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