Warring Identities

TLDR

The study examines how the contrast between soldiers’ military identities and civilian identities contributes to veterans’ mental health challenges, rather than attributing problems solely to PTSD or depression. Using 26 in‑depth life story interviews of recent American veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, the authors analyze the identity struggle experienced upon reentering civilian life. The research shows that the clash between military demands for deindividuation, obedience, and chain‑of‑command and civilian expectations of autonomy and relationality creates adverse mental health effects, is compounded by a civilian culture perceived as lacking understanding of the veteran experience, and that these warring identities significantly influence combat‑related mental health problems.

Abstract

Drawing from 26 life story interviews of recent American veterans, this paper analyzes the identity struggle faced by soldiers returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and reentering the civilian world. Instead of examining veterans’ problems as a consequence of post-combat mental illnesses such as PTSD and major depression, we analyze the contrast between the participants’ identities as soldiers and their identities as civilians. We find that the postwar transition causes adverse mental health effects that stem from contrasts between the military’s demands for deindividuation, obedience, chain-of-command, and dissociation and the civilian identity expectations of autonomy, self-advocacy, and being relational. Veterans’ reintegration to civilian society is further hindered by a culture that is perceived (by veterans) as having decreased understanding of the soldier/veteran experience itself. These identity conflicts—what we term warring identities—have an important yet understudied effect on veterans’ combat-related mental health problems.