Soldiers must be able to maintain their emotional distance from the enemy during combat to stay focused and alive.
This can come at the cost of experiencing feelings of disconnection from loved ones back home. This article will explore how soldiers deal with these challenges and what they consider necessary for emotional closeness while away from their families.
One way that soldiers try to remain connected is through letters, emails, phone calls, and social media updates. These communication methods allow them to share stories about their lives, receive updates on family events, and even see pictures of loved ones. Some soldiers also keep mementos such as photos or handwritten notes to remind themselves of their connections when they are far away.
Another way soldiers create emotional closeness is through shared experiences. Soldiers may bond over common interests, such as sports teams or hobbies, or by sharing jokes and stories. They may also form strong bonds based on mutual respect and trust built up during training and deployment.
Despite these efforts, soldiers often experience difficulties in maintaining emotional closeness due to the rigors of military life. Long deployments can make it difficult to find time for meaningful connection with family members, and some soldiers may feel guilty for neglecting relationships while focusing on their work.
Soldiers may experience trauma from witnessing violence or death that makes them hesitant to open up emotionally.
There are ways that soldiers can support each other in building and maintaining emotional closeness. They may share resources like books or music that promote self-reflection and expression, or engage in activities that foster intimacy and vulnerability. They may also rely on peer support networks to help them process their feelings and identify strategies for coping with emotional distress.
Soldiers must navigate a complex balance between prioritizing survival and maintaining emotional closeness. While they cannot control the demands of their job, they can take steps to stay connected to their families and friends and build resilience against the stress of combat.
How do soldiers understand emotional closeness when operational demands prioritize survival over relational maintenance?
Soldiers may feel conflicted about maintaining emotional closeness with family members during times of high operational stress due to the need for survival. They must prioritize completing their mission objectives rather than focusing on personal relationships, leading to feelings of guilt and separation. To cope with this conflict, they often rely on social support from other military personnel who share similar experiences.