Soldiers face many challenges during deployment, including high stress levels, difficult environments, constant threats to safety, time away from loved ones, physical exhaustion, and limited resources. These factors can make it hard for them to maintain close relationships with their partners back home.
They must remain connected through letters, phone calls, emails, video chats, social media posts, and occasional visits. To do so successfully requires relational empathy and emotional availability under extreme cognitive and psychological load.
Relational empathy is the ability to understand another person's perspective and feelings. It involves taking into account that partner's thoughts, beliefs, values, experiences, needs, desires, and fears. Empathetic soldiers listen actively, acknowledge their partner's concerns, offer support, show patience and respect, and respond with kindness, compassion, and understanding. Emotional availability means being open, transparent, and vulnerable about one's own emotions and experiences. Soldiers may share struggles, setbacks, worries, hopes, dreams, and anxieties, while allowing their partner to express their own emotions without judgement or criticism.
To maintain relational empathy and emotional availability, soldiers should prioritize communication. They should schedule regular check-ins with their partner and ask questions to learn more about what matters to them. This helps build trust and intimacy, even when separated by distance. During conversations, soldiers should avoid distractions, such as TV or work demands, and give their full attention. They should also express appreciation and gratitude for their partner's efforts to stay connected despite separation.
Soldiers can also reduce cognitive and psychological load by focusing on self-care. This includes getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising regularly, managing stress through relaxation techniques, engaging in hobbies or leisure activities, seeking help from mental health professionals, and surrounding themselves with positive influences. These steps can improve overall mood and energy levels, making it easier to connect with loved ones.
Soldiers must be patient and flexible in adapting to changes in the relationship dynamic caused by deployment. This may involve adjusting expectations around communication frequency, content, tone, and duration, as well as accommodating different time zones and cultural norms. Both partners should strive to be understanding and supportive of each other's needs, recognizing that compromise is often necessary for a strong and healthy connection.
How do soldiers maintain relational empathy and emotional availability under extreme cognitive and psychological load?
The ability to relate to others' experiences is crucial for effective communication and interpersonal connections. In stressful military situations, individuals may experience cognitive overload and emotional exhaustion, which can affect their capacity to connect with peers. To sustain relational empathy and emotional availability, soldiers should develop self-awareness of their reactions and regulate their responses appropriately.