Why It Can Be Difficult for Veterans to Get Readapted to Society

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As a soldier, you may be coming back from your last tour. You’ve probably seen the horrors of war and made great friends during your time, but the time has come for your military service to stop. You are about to make a jump into a world that is completely different from the one you have known during your service. Life outside of the service is hard. Life in the service was hard in a different way.

 

Your life after the service may not be exactly what you were imagining, but you may be in for a surprise. Here is what you’ll be getting reacquainted with:

 

Why It Can Be Difficult for Veterans to Get Readapted to Society

 

  • More family time
  • More leisure time
  • Less structure

 

Differences between Military and Civilian Life

You are going to have more family time, yet you are going to be in for a series of challenges when joining civilian world again. When you initially rejoin the civilian world, you will be in a state of culture shock. Culture shock is when you come from a specific culture, yet you suddenly find yourself in another lifestyle. After, you are experiencing disorientation, and you don’t understand what to do next. Military life is laid out in front of you. On the other hand, life in the civilian world is unpredictable.

 

Why is a life you have recently come from hard to understand again? For one, you haven’t experienced that lifestyle since before you joined the military. Readjusting will be harder for individuals that have been in the military longer and the opposite is true as well.

 

If you were injured during the war, you not only have to deal with a mental readjustment, but you also have a physical limitation. Soldiers with lost limbs will find that life is much harder. The structure they crave from the military is gone, and they are suffering for physical limitations. Yet, many of these soldiers use their work ethic to overcome their limitations.

 

Easing Into Life

Life as you know it has changed, not necessarily for bad or good, but life is definitely going to be different for you and your family. The important thing is that you take the new transition slowly. You may find yourself still using Army or Navy jargon and that is okay. You don’t have to change who you are to keep up with the times, and you don’t have to look back and say that’s not me anymore. You should be proud of the service you performed to your country.

 

The best thing you can do when you get back to the civilian world is to get your bearings going in the right direction. You won’t need your military bearing anymore. It just isn’t part of your life anymore, although, if you ever talk to any of your superiors, you could still extend them the formality. They will appreciate the good soldier or sailor that you once were. If you never completed college, a great way to get your bearing is to go back to college for your Interdisciplinary Studies Online Degree.

 

Once you have your bearing, all you need to do is remain self motivated. In the service, all you had to do was maintain your duties and designation requirements. You have the work ethic – use it.