Combat Exposure and Mental Health in the Military: the Role of Collective Identity

Abstract

Significant evidence links combat exposure to psychiatric disorders and poor mental health outcomes in service members, creating the need to elucidate the factors associated with promoting psychological health and resilience in the military. Social identity theory postulates that an individual’s identification with a group, such as the military, can be instrumental in the provision of a sense of belongingness that is crucial for social integration, meaning and support during times of difficulty. This study examined how collective military identification interacted with the effects of combat exposure on mental health outcomes, in light of the protective capacity of social belongingness to support psychological health and resilience. I conducted a secondary analysis on a sample of 430 veterans and active duty reservists representing all branches of the military, who had deployed at least once. I hypothesized that collective military identity would provide a buffer against the deleterious effect of combat exposure on mental health, such that those with stronger levels of collective military identification would show a weaker relationship between combat exposure and poor mental health outcomes – assessed in terms of PTSD, psychological distress and perceived stress. My results indicated that collective military identity and combat exposure were both significantly and positively associated with PTSD symptoms; however, collective military identity did not buffer the effect. The findings present an unexpected, positive relationship between collective military identity and PTSD symptoms in veterans and reservists with the need for future research to further clarify this relationship.

The Nature of Combat Stress Development During Military Operations and Psychotherapy in Extreme Situations

“…The experience of combat trauma occurs in several stages (Bouleh, 2020): −a state of shock accompanied by physiological changes: pale skin, lack of blinking, sudden memory loss, the person forgets what to do in a particular situation, no emotions and slow speech; −overexcitement, characterized by redness of the skin, frequent blinking, anxiety, fidgeting, rapid speech, muscle tension, feeling hot, and excessive alertness; −fatigue, characterized by combat exhaustion, accompanied by irritability, discontent, difficulty relaxing, avoidance of eye contact, frustration, sleep, and appetite problems; −recovery from trauma, emotional devastation, guilt, unwillingness to live, holding back tears, psychosomatic disorders, especially digestive problems, arterial disorders, and headaches (Messina and Fogliani, 2010); −adaptation to extreme situations, which results in the exacerbation of higher feelings, patriotism, activation of thinking, and faith in one's own strength-the collective consciousness begins to work clearly, resistance to failure increases, and endurance improves.…”