Adaptation of the military to civilian life
The war in Ukraine has driven many men and women to leave civilian life and go to the frontline. The psyche suffers during combat tasks. A person may have problems adapting to civilian life after returning home. War dreams disturb them, and post-traumatic stress disorder sets in. Adaptation of the military to civilian life is a long and often difficult process. Relatives need to know how to talk to their loved ones after they return home, what reactions to expect. And how to support veterans and help them plan their lives.
What difficulties do people returning from the front face? How can you smoothly integrate into civilian life? If you have PTSD, what should you do? Andriy Kozinchuk, a military psychologist, spoke about these issues.
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How to psychologically adapt to civilian life?
You can’t do anything too drastic. It is important to calm your psychological state. The best thing to do is to find a place that you associate with safety, e.g. home. If there have been quarrels at home, it could be your grandmother’s house or try going to the countryside.
In this place, all basic needs should be met. This means tasty food, restful sleep, walks, meetings with people who don’t make you nervous. It is important not to make any drastic movements in the first two weeks of your return, try to get a job.
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How to train the body to live without adrenaline in a peaceful life?
In order to live fully and have adrenaline, you don’t have to do something dangerous. It can be something related to physical activity. It’s important to choose your sport according to your health condition. For example, if a person used to love shooting, they can learn archery in civilian life. This requires concentration and special breathing techniques.
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You often wake up at night because of dreams about the war. What to do?
First of all, it is important to restore breathing. To do this, you need to take a deep breath and exhale. You need to repeat this at least five times. Next, you can get out of bed, go to the window and focus your eyes on the window pane, and then defocus them out of the window. Repeat the exercise several times. After that, you can go back to bed and repeat the deep breathing again. If the problem is systematic and it causes great discomfort, consult a psychotherapist or psychologist.
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Reaction to loud noises. What to do with it?
First, you need to understand why you have this reaction to loud noises. This is a reaction of the body, it was formed in order for a person to survive. In civilian life, it’s normal to react to loud noises! It’s a survival formula for a particular person.
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If you fell to the ground because of a loud noise:
- sit down and repeat to yourself that this reaction is normal;
- breathe and realise that you are safe;
- in your mind repeat again that this reaction is normal, you did everything right;
- get up and continue walking.
Gradually, month by month, the reaction will become less acute.
