What is Shared Trauma?
Shared trauma refers to experiencing traumatic events together, such as combat situations in the military or natural disasters like hurricanes, fires, floods, etc. These experiences can bring people together through their similar struggles and help them understand each other's perspectives better.
They can also cause friction due to different coping mechanisms and reactions.
How does Shared Trauma Affect Emotional Bonds?
Shared trauma affects emotional bonds in various ways. It can strengthen partnerships by bringing couples closer together and helping them build trust and understanding.
When two people experience something challenging, it creates a bond that makes them more resilient than before. They become stronger as individuals and share a common identity built on survival instincts. This shared sense of purpose often leads to feelings of gratitude for having someone to rely on during difficult times.
Challenges of Shared Trauma
Although shared trauma can be beneficial, it can also strain relationships if unaddressed. Military couples may face unique stressors due to deployment, time apart, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When PTSD occurs after experiencing shared trauma, it can lead to relationship problems like withdrawal from communication, anger issues, hypervigilance, depression, and anxiety. In addition, couples who have experienced trauma together may struggle with intimacy issues because they feel distant from each other emotionally or physically.
Coping with Shared Trauma
Couples can cope with shared trauma by seeking professional help and addressing their individual needs. Therapy is vital for both partners to work through past experiences and communicate effectively about current ones. Also, engaging in healthy activities together like exercise or hobbies can bring couples closer while reducing stress levels.
Building resilience is essential for maintaining mental health throughout life's ups and downs, including military service and disaster responses.
What impact does shared trauma have on strengthening or straining emotional bonds between military partners?
Traumatic events can be both detrimental and beneficial for relationships between military partners as they test the resilience of their relationship. The military context presents unique challenges that may increase the likelihood of experiencing trauma together, which can create strong feelings of closeness and dependence as well as heightened anxiety, frustration, and isolation.