Soldiers experience many challenges while performing their duties such as working under high stress levels, dealing with physical injuries, handling life-threatening situations, fighting battles, and being away from family members for extended periods of time. These experiences can impact their mental health, leading to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, trauma, and difficulty coping with everyday life after returning home. One of the factors that influence soldiers' ability to cope with operational stress is forgiveness.
Prolonged exposure to operational stress makes it difficult for them to be able to forgive others for personal transgressions. This article will discuss how operational stress influences soldiers' capacity for relational forgiveness.
Operational stress refers to the various psychological and physiological effects that combat soldiers encounter during warfare or military operations. It encompasses the mental and emotional strain that results from an individual's involvement in combat, including feelings of fear, guilt, and anger. Prolonged exposure to operational stress affects soldiers' cognitive processes, causing them to become more agitated, less empathetic, and less willing to forgive others. When exposed to a traumatic event, soldiers may develop negative feelings towards other people, including friends and colleagues who did not participate in the traumatic experience. As a result, they may struggle to trust others or feel betrayed by those who fail to meet their expectations. The increased levels of cortisol in the body caused by operational stress also cause changes in brain function, making it harder for individuals to regulate their emotions and engage in forgiveness.
Forgiveness involves letting go of resentment and bitterness toward someone who has wronged us. Relational forgiveness is specific to relationships where the offender is known personally. It requires acknowledging the hurt that was inflicted and recognizing the offender as human despite their mistakes. Research suggests that prolonged exposure to operational stress can impair soldiers' ability to forgive others due to its effect on memory, emotion regulation, and self-perception.
One study found that soldiers with PTSD were less likely to seek forgiveness than those without the condition, suggesting that prolonged exposure to operational stress can reduce the motivation to forgive. Another study showed that soldiers with higher scores on a measure of PTSD had more difficulty processing positive memories about other people, which can interfere with the capacity for forgiveness.
Operational stress may lead soldiers to view themselves as unworthy of love and support, making them less likely to extend forgiveness to others.
This article has discussed how operational stress influences soldiers' capacity for relational forgiveness. Prolonged exposure to operational stress affects cognitive processes, leading to difficulties in empathy, trust, and self-awareness. This can make it challenging for soldiers to forgive others for personal transgressions. Future research should investigate whether forgiveness therapy or trauma-informed approaches could help soldiers overcome these barriers and rebuild healthy relationships after returning home.
How does prolonged exposure to operational stress influence soldiers' capacity for relational forgiveness?
Prolonged exposure to operational stress can have a significant impact on soldiers' ability to forgive others, particularly those with whom they share close relationships. This is because traumatic experiences can cause changes in brain chemistry that make it more difficult to empathize with other people and understand their perspective. Furthermore, soldiers may develop symptoms of PTSD, which can include hyperarousal, avoidance, and numbing responses to stimuli.