A qualitative analysis of meaning‐making and mental health among OIF/OEF veterans

Abstract

Objective After combat, veterans may experience mental health symptomology and attempt to make meaning from their experiences. The present study qualitatively examined the mental health effects of deployment and meaning‐making among Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) or Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) veterans. Method OIF/OEF veterans who were exposed to combat (N = 14) participated in semi‐structured interviews to assess how their perspectives had changed post‐deployment. Most participants (86%) were male, with a mean age of 30. Results Veterans described issues post‐combat that caused psychological distress or promoted distancing from others. Veterans also discussed factors that could promote or hinder meaning‐making, including perceptions of growth, changed global beliefs, and disillusionment. Finally, veterans described psychological reactions to death, which could be related to moral injury. Conclusion Mental health concerns, meaning‐making, and consideration of mortality appear to characterize veterans’ experiences post‐deployment. These constructs may be important for clinicians to consider when working with OIF/OEF veterans.

Moral Injury in Former Child Soldiers in Liberia

“…For non-perpetrators, joining a faction at a younger age appears to be associated with a lower risk of developing MI, though the shallow slope of the line indicates a mild effect. The upward sloping line on the left-hand panel is steeper for non-abductees, suggesting that younger volunteers (who did not perpetrate violent acts) might be more resilient to MI, a pattern consistent with the hypothesis of meaning-making (Currier et al, 2015;Keller et al, 2020). In short, the findings are consistent with the idea that child soldiers' minds seem to be adaptive to the external environment but are vulnerable to the stress induced by their wrongdoings.…”