Perspectives of veterans with mild traumatic brain injury on community reintegration: Making sense of unplanned separation from service.

Perspectives of veterans with mild traumatic brain injury on community reintegration: Making sense of unplanned separation from service. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2017;87(2):129-138 Authors: Libin AV, Schladen MM, Danford E, Cichon S, Bruner D, Scholten J, Llorente M, Zapata S, Dromerick AW, Blackman MR, Magruder KM Abstract For veterans separated from the military as a result of acquired mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), the transition from a military identity to a civilian one is complicated by health, cognitive, and psychosocial factors. We conducted in-depth interviews with 8 veterans with mTBI to understand how they perceived the experience of departure from the military, rehabilitation services provided at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Polytrauma Network Site, and reentry into civilian life. Two distinct patterns of thinking about community reintegration emerged. The first pattern was characterized by the perception of a need to fade one's military identity. The second pattern, conversely, advanced the perception of a need to maintain the integrity of one's military identity though living in a civilian world. These perceptions may be linked to individuals' roles while in the military and whether violent acts were committed in carrying out the mission of service, acts not consonant with positive self-appraisal in the civilian world. The crisis of unplanned, involuntary separation from the military was universally perceived...
Source: The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Am J Orthopsychiatry Source Type: research