Since the Iran war started a little more than a month ago, there has been a lot of focus on the costs of the war, militarily and economically.
But what about the emotional and mental health cost to service members, veterans and their families? And what can communities do to help?
is a retired U.S. Army Colonel, a professor of social work and psychology and director of military and veterans programs at the University of Southern California. He鈥檚 also co-author of the book 鈥�.鈥�
Castro joined Here & Now to shine a light on what members of the military, their families and veterans may be experiencing as the Iran war enters a second month.
6 questions with Carl Castro
Should you thank a Veteran for their service?
鈥淢ost veterans appreciate being appreciated. And so thanking a veteran is fine. But veterans are always thinking, 鈥業 could have done more. There鈥檚 things going on. I wish I could do more now.鈥�
鈥淪o in some ways, it鈥檚 a sense of regret that we鈥檙e still not sort of in the fight, figuratively and in some cases, like events going on in the world today, literally. So that鈥檚 sort of why you get various responses to that, to that phrase, 鈥楾hank you for your service.鈥欌��
What鈥檚 a better phrase to use?
鈥淚 just think by saying, 鈥楾hank you for serving.鈥� You don鈥檛 have to thank them for their service because that鈥檚 sort of past tense, versus if they鈥檙e in uniform, they鈥檙e currently serving. So I would say just say 鈥楾hank you for serving鈥�.鈥�
What are you hearing from service members?
鈥淭he most important thing for anyone who has served in the military, and especially who served in the military during war, is you want to win the war. That鈥檚 what military personnel are trained to do. They鈥檙e trained to fight and win. The United States right now is not on a really good winning streak when it comes to wars. And this goes all the way back to Vietnam, obviously.
鈥淪o most of the thinking right now is not only do we not want another prolonged war, but we want to make sure that the sacrifices that the service members who die in fighting these wars, the deaths aren鈥檛 in vain, that it actually is going to be something meaningful and worthwhile.鈥�
How much does uncertainty weigh on service members and their families?
鈥淧redictability is really important, and predictability doesn鈥檛 have to happen in the details. So you don鈥檛 have to say 鈥榦n this date, on this time, we鈥檙e going to be in this location鈥�. Right? That would just be silly for military to provide that level of predictability and specificity.
鈥淏ut what families need to know, what service members need to know, is what鈥檚 the end state? When will we know we鈥檝e reached it? How long will it take to get there? If service members are deployed anywhere in the region, how long will they be gone? When will they return? These are the things that all of the research shows being very, very important, not only for the well-being of the service member, those doing the fighting and deploying, but also for the family members back home.鈥�
How might the Iran War impact Veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and what should they do?
鈥淲hat usually gets enhanced during this phase is the symptom that we referred to as re-experiencing, because now they鈥檙e seeing images on TV or reading about the images that would cause them to re-experience their own trauma that they may have experienced when they were in combat. But it wouldn鈥檛 be in the sense you鈥檙e retraumatized as much as you鈥檙e re-experiencing your own experiences, recalling the memories that you have. And that can certainly increase.
鈥淭he first thing I would say is what you鈥檙e experiencing by re-experiencing these events is normal. You鈥檙e not losing your mind. You haven鈥檛 become worse off. It鈥檚 a normal reaction. And not everybody will have that reaction, by the way. But don鈥檛 think that somehow you鈥檙e different or you鈥檙e going back to square one. It鈥檚 a very, very normal reaction. And if you鈥檙e currently seeing a therapist, share what you鈥檙e feeling, what you鈥檙e thinking, what you鈥檙e re-experiencing with them. If you鈥檙e not seeing a therapist, then talk to a trusted family member or friend or mentor about what you鈥檙e experiencing.
鈥淚n order to avoid re-experiencing anything, you just avoid that experience. Now, this is also one of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, the avoidance aspect, where you avoid situations where you will re-experience the trauma.
鈥淲hat you want to do is, you know, don鈥檛 keep the TV on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And that鈥檚 something that veterans tend to do. You know, when there鈥檚 a new war, they want to find out what鈥檚 going on, who鈥檚 involved, what can they see? What can they find out? And that can be healthy because information generally is a healthy coping mechanism, seeking out accurate information. So you鈥檙e not acting on rumors and forming your impressions based on rumors, but at the same time, you may re-experience things that maybe is not in your best interest to re-experience at that moment.鈥�
What else is important for people to understand?
鈥淭here鈥檚 been a lot, of course, written and talked about from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan around how combat changes you, how deployments change you, how it changes relationships because of the separation, because of the changed service member who鈥檚 coming home. None of that is different. This has been true since the recorded history of warfare. It鈥檚 not new.
鈥淵ou mentioned earlier that your father, they called it shell shock. The names change, but the suffering and the symptoms don鈥檛 change. Don鈥檛 think that this war is different and unique and you鈥檙e not going to see these changes. These changes are going to happen. It鈥檚 something you can go back a thousand years, 2,000 years, when these things were first being written about. People change. War changes you. Combat changes you. And it鈥檚 not that you鈥檙e weak because you鈥檙e changed. You鈥檙e just going to be a different person. Doesn鈥檛 mean you鈥檙e going to have a mental health disorder, doesn鈥檛 mean you鈥檙e going to become violent or suicidal or any of those things. Most combat veterans are not like that, but they are different.鈥�
This interview was edited for clarity.
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produced and edited this interview for broadcast with . Griffiths also produced it for the web.
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