Before my son left, he was detaching from the family and this was causing mental stress with increased arguments between his wife and him. According to the mental health information on deployments, pre-deployment is filled with fear and anxiety.
The deployment stage is also a roller coaster of emotions but in a different way. My DIL is kind of relieved to not have to be brave so her husband will not worry about the family. Although she still is experiencing difficulty sleeping and having problems with depression.
My 21 month old granddaughter now has separation anxiety. She never has had any problems staying with me or had separation anxiety when she was younger. Now every time she realizes her mom is gone, she throws a fit. She has stopped sleeping through the night. All of this is normal for children with a parent deployed, but it is challenging.
The good news is my son is able to video chat almost every day. This is helping my DIL to cope with the separation better. However it is difficult to get her to leave the house if she thinks her husband might call. That is preventing her from meeting other families in the area or going to the park to play.
I am a little surprised with myself. My homework for the week my son left has so many errors that I usually do not make in grammar and typing. I was not able to focus on school because of the anxiety and stress involved with the deployment. I am so lucky because I get to hear from my son frequently and it still is stressful.
To help military families cope with deployments, the federal government has many websites to answer questions and provide support for service members and families.
Following is a link that explains the stages of deployments:
http://www.hooah4health.com/deployment/familymatters/emotionalcycle.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment