While returning home might seem like the easy part, for many veterans, the transition back to civilian life after months in a war zone is almost as difficult as the deployment itself.
In Warrior Withdrawal, Varpas de Sa Pereira, PsyD, explores this phenomenon by describing his own experiences with combat and the stories of veterans struggling to adjust to "normal" life.
When Varpas, a US Marine, returned home after a tour in Iraq, it wasn't the restful break from gunfire and taking orders that he had hoped. He was irritable and angry and itched to return to the battlefield. After his eighth tour to a combat zone, he tried to treasure the precious time he had with his wife and kids, but he couldn't get the clarity of purpose he'd had while deployed out of his mind.
After deploying several more times, searching for some "thing" he was missing, he finally retired and went back to school to study clinical psychology. It was then that he realized what he had experienced was not abnormal. Many veterans, for whom being a warrior is ingrained in their psyche, struggle to adapt to life outside the military, often leading them to mental health challenges. Varpas coined this as Warrior Withdrawal Syndrome and now works as a psychotherapist to help veterans facing difficulties in their newfound lives.
Whether you're a veteran or a loved one of a veteran, Warrior Withdrawal is a fantastic tool to help you understand the effects of combat on servicemen as well as work to overcome the desire for deployment.