Essay On Psychiatric Effects Of Deployment On Children And Families

Psychiatric Effects of Deployment on Children and Families My palms begin to sweat, and my heart begins to race. It's like trying to win a race, without even leaving my seat. Im left exhausted, overwhelmed, and it's hard to escape. This happened every single day of my life. This is exactly what the anxiety felt like that I have not long after deployment in 2011. Although many service members come home with injuries visual to their family and friends; not all injuries are visual. The psychological effects of someone’s injuries are not only an effect on the service members, but also their family and children. In the eight years that i fought for this country, the winter of 2011 would bring me the worse internal and mental pain i will ever have to endure in my life. The years prior to 2011, i spent roughly 66 percent of three years living out on a ship in the the Atlantic ocean and Persian Gulf. My son was born in the summer of 2009, and with immediately being sent out on deployment in the fall of 2009, …show more content…
Studies were done during the Persian Gulf War and showed that children whose father and/or mothers were absent at least a month out of 12 months experienced typically higher reported depression and anxiety. Children aged 3 to 5 years with a deployed parent experience greater symptoms related to behavior than children without a deployed parent. While parents suffering from PTSD due to deployment, may also suffer from mTBI (mild traumatic brain injury). Younger children with deployed parents typically show higher behavior problems while the parent is deployed and also higher attachment behaviors during the reunion with the deployed parent. While not all service members have children, effects on his/her family can also be stressful. Daily, we lose 22 veterans a day due to suicide. While the civilian suicide rate is around 23%, veterans with mental issues suicide rate is upwards to 32%. That alone, is