Our country’s veterans often return from war with psychological conditions that may render them unable to fully rejoin the life they left as civilians. One of the most common issues that may arise when a male or female soldier returns from combat is the misunderstanding by their friends and family that they are the same person that went into battle. That they may have witnessed atrocities or death can leave internal scars that are deep and incomprehensible to civilians back at home. The returning soldier may be treated like a hero, but underneath they often have confused feelings of why they were in a war in the first place. Many suffer haunting memories of their service in a war-torn country. The return home often feels surreal and what should feel familiar now feels foreign and uncomfortable.
Soldiers are taught to shoot, but are not prepared to deal with the emotions that can come after they pull the trigger. Military service members should be prepared by their commanders before they go into combat for what they might have to deal with, but many are not. Rarely are they given the coping tools to address their emotions. Even if given some basic education to recognize symptoms in themselves or other soldiers, they will very often need to seek professional counseling when returning from a theater of war.
Often, there are not enough words to even start to express what it is like to experience war and death. For combat veterans, art therapy as a form of psychotherapy provides a way to more easily express the trauma that may not be verbally communicable. Being able to capture these feelings through expression in any number of artistic forms helps to metaphorically step away from imbedded trauma and reflect upon the meaning of the artwork. This can provide insight into inner turmoil or emotional discomfort.
Returning veterans often suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder -- what was commonly referred to in World War II as “shell shock.” Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) afflicts approximately 20 percent of returning vets, a number documented by the Veterans Administration. The Veterans Administration also estimates about 18 war veterans commit suicide each day. That translates into 6,500 suicides each year. These are men and women who have risked their lives in service to the military and receive little, if any, psychological help when their service is done.
The symptoms of PTSD can be very debilitating to daily functioning. The following are classic symptoms and are divided into three separate clusters:
Re-Experiencing Symptoms
Frequently having upsetting thoughts or memories about a traumatic event
Having recurrent nightmares
Acting or feeling as though the traumatic event were happening again, also known as a flashback
Having very strong feelings of distress when reminded of the traumatic event
Being physically responsive, such as experiencing a surge in your heart rate or sweating, when reminded of a distressing event
Avoidance Symptoms
Making an effort to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations about a traumatic event
Making an effort to avoid places or people that also remind you of a traumatic event
A loss of interest in important, once positive activities
Feeling distant from others
Difficulty having positive feelings, such as happiness or love
Feeling as though your life may be cut short
Hyperarousal Symptoms
Having a difficult time falling or staying asleep
Feeling more irritable or having outbursts of anger
Having difficulty concentrating
Feeling constantly “on guard” or like danger is lurking around every corner
Being “jumpy” or easily startled
To be diagnosed with PTSD, a person does not need to have all the symptoms listed above. To have a diagnosis of PTSD you only need a certain number of symptoms from each cluster. Experiencing only a few of these symptoms may leave an individual isolated, controlling his emotions with drugs or alcohol, unable to function at a job, angry with authority, unable to find, keep or trust a relationship and often riddled with excessive and undue guilt from having lived through combat where others have died.
Most suicides occur after soldiers return home and find that life is not the same. Personal relationships, legal, financial and emotional issues account for most of the problems.
The emotional journey back is not an easy one. Art psychotherapy offers an individual expression to the memories that are haunting; the creative process can be the channel to let out painful memories that words have not been able to adequately express. The use of art with other therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy can help identify and reframe negative thought processes. The creative process itself leads to gaining insight into ones’ strengths and self-worth; it also offers a gentle way to find a place of inner peace.
The first photograph included here is just one example of how the creative process helped one Vietnam veteran working with art as a therapeutic process to refocus his life in what he described as feeling lost when returning home.
“I was not the same person everyone wanted me to be”. He shared with me his love of the forest surrounding his house and beautiful wood grains in the different trees on his land. He began to collect different pieces of wood and learned to fashion bowls and vases. He eventually began building beautiful wooden rocking chairs that have become family heirlooms.
By using his creativity he found a way to calm the inner voices that often plagued him. The very act of woodworking became the meditative process that helped ease his anxiety. This art making outside of his sessions offered him a sense of purpose, while also providing relaxation. He would bring his work in to each session where we would then talk about the bowl being a holding place of sorts to put all the pain he carried --
“I found calm within myself in the wood grains and patterns. I never forgot the war, but I have learned to leave it behind me and find a peaceful place within myself again.”
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