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happened. In this respect, Paulson and Krippner (2007) recommend that Veterans embrace their loneliness as an existential predicament and thus reconnect with themselves.
Alternatively, Veterans may educate themselves about trauma and PTSD so they may better communicate their experiences, or otherwise learn and exercise manners in which experiences may be better communicated to others e.g., Stein & Tuval- Mashiach, 2017). Finally, seeking professional counseling may be essential in reducing Veterans’ loneliness and gradually facilitating reintegration into civilian society, regardless of PTSD (Castro, Kintzle, & Hassan, 2015).
Conclusion
War ultimately and irrevocably changes a person (Gill, 2011). This change must be acknowledged in order to overcome the alienation of the returning Veteran (Hoge, 2010; Schuetz, 1945; R. T. Smith & True, 2014), who retains his or her well-entrenched military identity years and decades after the shooting is well done. As I delineated above, this identity – constituted by experiences of the past and the present, as well as various discursive mechanisms — is at the heart of the Veteran’s loneliness. Let us come to know that identity, know the person who returns from war, know that which he or she has undergone, and learn to accept him or her for who they are now. Only then may we breach the solitary confinements fortified by the horrible experiences they have endured and their psychiatric residuals.
About the Author
I have a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Psychology from Bar-Ilan University, Israel. My research focuses on various aspects of trauma's aftermath, particularly the interpersonal domain with a special interest in loneliness. I am currently conducting
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