Shaping hope in everyday life: Experiences of veteran spouses with post‐deployment mental health issues

Abstract

While spouses of military veterans have not been directly exposed to threats during deployment, they often experience a substantial post‐deployment‐related health burden while living with and caring for a partner with deployment‐related mental health issues. Drawing from in‐depth interviews, this study examined how female spouses of military veterans deal with the psychosocial effects of deployment. We show how these women cope. They keep their family lives going by maintaining hope for the future. We argue that hope is a dynamic practice between reality and possibility, and different forms of hope co‐exist. These range from temporary formulations of present‐centered hope, and permanent hopes directed towards the future. We illustrate how spouses challenge discourses around curative futures and adjust their hopes to maintain a more satisfactory everyday life and a positive horizon towards the future.