National Association of Social Workers

Veterans Aided With Transition Struggle

Stress of Combat Can Carry Over into Civilian Life

Veterans of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan are facing unique challenges.

By Lyn Stoesen, News Staff

Illustration: John Michael Yanson

Military combat has always taken a toll on service members. Being vigilant, stoic and protective of fellow soldiers are invaluable, life-saving traits during war. But the stress of remaining on high alert has physiological and psychological effects that can make life outside of combat difficult for those returning and challenging for their families.

Service members returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, however, have the advantage of a system tuned in to their needs for readjusting to civilian life, one in which social workers are at the forefront.

New dynamics. Service members who have been deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) are facing unique experiences.

"The nature of this war is vastly different from other wars," said Rick Selig, a social worker working for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as the program coordinator of the OIF/OEF Trauma and Transition Resource Program in Topeka. (Selig was recently featured in a print advertisement that is part of NASW's National Social Work Public Education Campaign.)

"There is a need for the clinical social worker out there to be very careful about equating what we know from our work with Vietnam veterans to this population," Selig said.

"First of all, the demographics are markedly different," he explained. "Nearly 60 to 70 percent are married, and I think upwards of 12 to 15 percent are married to another service person. The service personnel is more varied in age and in gender."

Selig also pointed out that more than 40 percent of the ground troops are National Guard and Reserve members. "These folks are, in the true sense of the word, civilian warriors," Selig said.

And, he said, many of the service members in Iraq and Afghanistan have been deployed multiple times, which can create additional stress. "When National Guard folks come back, they've been back maybe six or eight months or a year and they haven't worked through the transition from the first deployment, they go back. This is unprecedented in our history."

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From February 2007 NASW News. © 2007 National Association of Social Workers. All Rights Reserved. NASW News articles may be copied for personal use, but proper notice of copyright and credit to the NASW News must appear on all copies made. This permission does not apply to reproduction for advertising, promotion, resale, or other commercial purposes.