Veteran’s Day is right around the corner and there are about 19 million reasons why people should check in with a U.S. vet on Veteran’s Day, November 11, and show them a little gratitude.
Roughly 19 million U.S. veterans are present and accounted for according to the Department of Veterans Affairs data, which adds that these men and women make up less than 10 percent of the total U.S. adult population.
According to https://www.military.com/, Veteran’s Day was initially recognized as Armistice Day, the day that signified the end of World War I, “formally recognized on the ‘11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month’ in 1918” according to the website.
The day is still celebrated, over 100 years later, and is now officially known as Veteran’s Day.
While recognition, honor and accolades are fittingly bestowed upon veterans, to experience the day as a veteran could sometimes bring about a whole different set of feelings and thoughts.
According to Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), the holiday can bring about feelings of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and more for veterans.
Every November, the day is acknowledged as a point of remembrance, and a time to thank those veterans in our lives, according to the article.
The common idea behind the day is to thank a veteran for their service. Some veterans have mixed feelings about the message according to the article.
“The current political climate in the United States has certainly been a stressor for many people for a variety of reasons. Veterans Day, the military and the ongoing geopolitical instability is something that I personally struggle with, not only as a veteran but as a U.S. citizen. Learning to cope with the stressors has been an ongoing struggle, particularly since the events of 9/11,” according to the article. “In recent years, WRAP has provided a system that helps me brainstorm wellness tools, identify and create a plan to handle stressors and make a crisis/post-crisis plan.”
Lisman, a U.S. Army combat veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm, has addressed challenges when dealing with post-mission stressors.
“For me, it’s just a sense of a duty to my fellow veterans,” he says in a George Mason University article. “When I returned from Desert Storm, I had some difficulties adjusting and trying to find what I wanted to do. I had some people who helped me get on track, so I want to pay that forward.”
Lisman said that he uses various relaxation techniques to help him cope with “acute anxiety and PTSD.”
‘The hypervigilance and paranoia that often haunt me are greatly reduced by looking at my stressors, understanding how my emotional well-being is affected by external stimuli and using relaxation techniques as part of my wellness toolbox,” he said in the Wellness Recovery Action Plan article. “When I feel fear and anger, I use the relaxation technique of four-count breathing to help me move through the emotions and become calm and centered. Practicing this technique in high-stress situations has exponentially increased its effectiveness.”
He also purposefully puts himself in high-stress situations (like crowds or watching war coverage in the news) and attempts to use his practiced relaxation techniques to reduce his stress while directly experiencing a stressor.
“These exercises, done in a semi-controlled fashion, have helped me deal with stressors that are out of my control,” he said. “Getting through this time of year is tough, and I’ve come to terms with much of it from a sociopolitical standpoint. When someone says, ‘Thank you for your service,’ I typically reply, ‘It was an honor to serve.’ That is the most honest and straightforward reply I can give while being true to myself.”
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