Grecia Cruz
English 1A T, TH 1-2:50 p.m.
Professor B.Condrey
26 August 2013
Homework # 13 Military Lifestyle Being in the U.S. military is a great experience. You receive benefits, travel, good pay, and a stable life. You have the chance to experience different things you thought were never possible. With all of these experiences come some sacrifices though, such as: being apart from family members, moving from familiar surroundings, starting a new “identity”, divorce, lack of communication, and health problems. Military families have to fight to be able to hold their families together no matter what hardships they may face in their time. In this profession there are positive and negatives that come along with it. Just like any other career. When the military member is sent out on deployment that is when it is the hardest on the family and the member leaving. Families are have limited communication, lack of security, and interruption of future plans. According to the article “How Communication with Families Can Both Help and Hinder Service Members’ Mental Health and Occupational Effectiveness on Deployment”; the family faces anxiety, isolation, separation, and uncertainty in status. Sometimes, the member of the family that is away misses out on important family events and that can cause greater isolation from the family. Even though there are multiple ways available for communication, it does not always work in the family’s favor. Communication is very limited and when families have the chance to communicate with one another it can reduce their isolation, and boredom. The lack of communication can affect a person’s mental health and emotions. When family turns on the TV to watch what is going on in today’s world and they see coverage of war events it raises their stress level. Even though the family is separated there can be some positives that come from being separated. The income can increase, growth as an individual, and it gives the time and space for the individual to think about what they really want from life.
All of these different effects have huge impacts on a person. No one wants to feel like they have lost touch with their own family or, that they are no longer belong. These effects not only affect the person serving in the military but, the family as well. Children can go through: separation anxiety, abandonment, stress, weight gain, and depression. For them the parent is a safe base and can get lost without their guidance. According to Lisa Hains, PhD and Kathy D. Berry, CFLE, MS; children need to be around the parents and, need to feel like they are important. If the father is out on deployment it is the mother’s responsibility to pick up the pieces and go on about her daily life. Sometimes the wife can either look for someone else to fill the empty space they have or, go into a secret depression. These “small” things can lead to make the other spouse feel like they need to move on. Vice versa. When one spouse is gone it is hard because now it feels like it has become a single parent household and like they no longer have their