https://www.oercommons.org/courses/lifespan-development-2

Original Question:

Based upon your readings this week, what are some special challenges that military members face as they navigate relationships and marriages?  What effect do lengthy deployments have on romantic relationships?  What about infidelity?  If you are a civilian student without first-hand knowledge of this topic, use this week’s readings and your own research to guide you.

Reply to the following response with 200 words minimum. (please make response as if having a conversation, respond directly to some of the statements in below post. This is not providing an analysis of the original post. Respectfully address it and even ask clarifying or additional questions.)

1.

Military-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and lengthy deployment of personnel profoundly affect relationships and marriages. Common challenges for military personnel and their spouses include the inability to create meaningful relationships, broken marriages, and infidelity. In the worst-case scenarios, cases of extreme aggression and the loss of life occur when the officers take their own lives, that of the spouse or children, and in some cases the lives of an entire family (Hall, 2016). Such challenges require the creation of proper support systems to help in dealing with the effects of both PTSD and lengthy deployments.

The relationship problems related to PTSD are as a result of the military personnel being unable to fit in the community. People with PTSD are highly likely to be violent. Furthermore, they may experience difficulty when relating to both their children and spouses, which affects relationships and marriages. Particular observations from persons with military-related PTSD include complaints from the spouse that one has changed or where the spouse fails to understand why the officers act in a certain way (Hall, 2016). Handling differences between the spouses in such situations becomes difficult leading to broken relationships and families. Where there are success stories, the spouses become a support system for the military personnel enabling them to deal with the PTSD and holding the relationship together.

Concerning lengthy deployment, cases of infidelity abound. The prolonged implementation and at times multiple deployments result in relationship stressors, which increases the risk of extra marital affairs. Such risks are heightened by the fact that there is a high prevalence of young couples who find it hard to stay apart for long periods of time. The couples try to maintain a connection through regular calls and at times, having multiple short-term deployments with short breaks in between results in better relationships (Hall, 2016). Overall, the relationships would be best addressed by providing good psychosocial support for the spouses and the military personnel.

References

Hall, L. K. (2016). Counseling military families: What mental health professionals need to know. London: Routledge.

2.

For myself, I entered the workforce relatively young, and would classify the stage upon entry as Levinson’s early adult transition stage. I was 17 years of age when I left home and became more or less independent of my parents, but occasionally relied upon them if needed (car problems etc.). But independence is subjective, we all rely on someone or something, especially during the transition from adolescent to adult. I worked several jobs, not by any means as a career, and did so to support myself. In line with Arnett’s (2004) description of an emerging adult’s focus and search for employment, my childhood career dreams vanished and I struggled to find my place in the workforce.

The employment I did find after cutting hair in a salon, was a bank teller job. My first full time position. Although I felt that working at the bank fit my work identity, I found that my co-workers were not as comfortable working with me as I them. I was young and most of my co-workers were well into their 30’s to late 50’s. I found this to be a struggle even after I gained a customer service position at another bank. As time went on, I eventually became a manager in my 20’s at a government convenience store, in which the same challenges held true. I was managing people that were either older than myself or my age. This was quite difficult. I had to establish boundaries, but found that to be almost impossible. The older personnel would not adhere to my requests and the employees that were my age became more like friends. However, in the end, these low-level careers, as Arnett (2004) described paved the way for me to eventually land an HR position that I was quite satisfied with! Then came marriage and eventually I left the workforce to focus on my family-kids etc.

I have always wondered how some people really do find their passion in their career, aligning their talents to their work. I find that to be a true achievement. Is it their lifestyle, their background, their parent’s income, their education, their parent’s career, their drive to become successful or whatever else that makes them just “know” what they want to do and actually do it? You read about famous musicians, composers, writers, painters etc. and most of the biographies relay that they just knew, but as you read more into the book, you find that their parents were also musicians, or something along those lines. So, do we have more pull as to where our parents ended up? It seems that way for myself. I homeschool and have obtained a degree in Early Childhood development which is similar to my mom’s career path as a teacher.

-Adrienne

References

Military-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and lengthy deployment of personnel appeared first on Precision Essays.