Of the myriad of “invisible wounds” that may become manifest in veterans returning from combat deployment I choose to describe “depression”. Kanel (2014) states that “symptoms such as sleep problems, feelings of guilt, worthlessness, hopelessness, regret, loss of energy and interest in life, and concentration deficits, appetite disorder, psychomotor retardation or agitation, and suicidal thoughts” (p. 179), all may be associated with depression. If I, as a crisis worker, was not knowledgeable of the symptoms of depression, they could appear as a personality defect or maybe laziness, which would cause harm to my client if I were not addressing the issue and instead focusing on other issues.
Special issues raised by the families of veterans might be “secondary traumatization.” This is when the family members of the veteran begin to manifest the symptoms that the veteran is experiencing.…