We have chosen the topic “Veterans serving in the war and their adjustment to the society” because it is true that many people after they return to home from war have problems in adjusting to the life. I have chosen to become part of the enactment skit because veterans are open to numerous problems such as unemployment and homelessness while the government and society seem to be not very concerned about this social group.
When we started to analyze the position of veterans we thought about the economic and physical problems of veterans who often have mental disorders caused by war scenes and cannot find a good job. But as the discussion went on, we realized that their emotional state is not considered so much. These people have volunteered to help their country but when they return they feel that nothing is done for their adjustment.
For example, the military soldiers are the most vulnerable and it is the hardest for them to adjust to the civilian life. At war, they are taught to follow the orders, they are fed and taken care of. Their role is protection and everyday they are at risk of being killed. When they decide to join the army, they are very excited about the contribution they can make, but when they return they cannot live without being given the orders, they do not know what to do with the “freedom” they gain again; they have to learn to be independent and take care of themselves. Not everybody can see the death and stay emotionally stable. Of course, the movies are full of killings and nobody is really surprised or scared any more. But the war is real and soldiers lose their friends who die on their eyes. Many return with emotional trauma and need the help of psychiatrist.
Currently, the government offers several services to veterans, for example, the financial assistance, lowered price for healthcare, life long support for veterans who received physical disabilities at war, tax-free pensions, they get the treatment benefits such as discounted drug subscription and health promotion. Of course, financial and health assistance are very helpful, but veterans should be offered the social services that would help them to feel part of the community again. Even those veterans who have families feel being outside the society. The situation with lonely veterans is even worse, they start to drink in order to destroy the emotional distress and often end up very bad.
More importunately, the adjustment of veterans to the civilian life is blocked by the emotional effects most of the veterans have is post traumatic stress disorder which is caused by some emotional shock (such as death of the close friend), veterans are open to start using drugs in order to forget about their war experience and change the reality (they prefer to live in their own fantasy world), homelessness and unemployment are the most terrible factors veterans often face – they need the place to live in, to pay for this leaving, to buy food and cloth. In order to have these things, it is necessary to find a job, while the previous employment places are already filled and new employers are not very willing to employ veterans because employers are aware about the emotional disorders they might have acquired. Moreover, soldiers are used to resolution of the conflicts with the help of strength and weapons while such decision making process is unacceptable in peaceful society. They do not know what to do and where to go while the society members prefer not to interact with them.
Of course, the government is trying to do something such as provision of financial assistance and health services for lowered price, but the society in general does not feel respect and gratefulness to these people who risked their lives in order to protect the motherland or other nations who were abused. More should be done – the society members should support veterans through provision of places for work, housing and emotional encouragement. The first thing to be introduced is the creation of employment places for veterans. The second, the development of the local community centers for veterans where they can gather and express their opinion, share experiences. The third, the help of the experienced psychologist should be offered to them in order to overcome the emotional distress.
I know about the problem not only from newspaper article, and had the personal experience. One my neighbor is a war veteran and I have seen how hard for him it was to adjust to the society when he returned. He did not have to face the homelessness because his family was waiting for him. However, he began drinking and was not in the hurry to find a new job. He was miserable, did not pay attention to his wife, who has eventually left him, was always deep in his thoughts but never shared the emotions. Everybody felt pity for him, but we did not know how to help. We realized that being at war was a huge trauma for him, but nobody of us had such experience in order to discuss it with him. Fortunately, he visited the local psychologist who returned him to life, his wife returned to him and he found the job. Thus, I understood that veterans need to share their inner feelings in order to adjust to the civilian life.