Unfortunately, not only active military personnel suffer from stress and anxiety. Their spouses are at risk of suffering from Secondary Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (SPTSD) brought on due to exposure to their partners’ PTSD. While this condition is inevitable for most armed forces couples, only the active duty partner gets preferential treatment.
Fortunately, there are several ways military wives and husbands can alleviate their anxiety without stepping into a therapy room. Below are a few tips that will help you develop the coping mechanism required to alleviate the stress.
Create Your Inner Circle Carefully
Your energy and time are vital resources as a military spouse, whether your spouse is on deployment or not. However, the additional demands placed on you while your spouse is deployed already mean that you don’t have enough time. Spending that time with negative people will do nothing apart from make your current situation even more stressful than it already is.
Remember, you have every right to avoid people that have a tendency to suck the life out of you whenever they are around. During and after deployment, have a set of positive individuals around you for emotional support. Once you get rid of the negative energy in your life, you will begin to notice a positive difference in your mood and energy levels.
Have Options
As the wife or husband and partner in the marriage, you also have certain expectations about your future. Sometimes, spouses will even take time to draft a step-by-step manifesto on the goals they would like to achieve in the near and far future. Disappointment is more likely to set in when things do not go as planned, and this can be devastating for the couple.
Posting schedules usually have military couples and families relocating several times. While it is not fair and you cannot choose where you end up, get yourself options by having a Plan B in case the first one does not work out. Using services like https://executiveautoshippers.com/services/military/ and having a backup will help you remain in control of your feelings as well, as how the rest of the family takes the move.
Create “You” Time
With a family that constantly requires your attention and no one to help, the last thing on your mind is probably taking care of yourself. In the unfortunate event you break down, whom do you expect to take over? One of the best ways of preventing burnout is through prioritizing yourself occasionally.
Get a babysitter and spend an entire day at a spa where you spoil and pamper yourself. You can also take advantage of numerous military-sponsored child care programs. The programs are specifically designed to offer deployed service members, like you, a break whenever they require it.
Go to School
One of the leading causes of stress in military wives is the lack of an income while a spouse is absent. If you would like to go back to school, consider applying for the Military Spouse Career Advancement Account (MyCAA) scholarship program.
The program is open to military spouses eligible for career training, and offers money that you can use to educate yourself, support the family and gain experiences to advance your career. This program pays for education, training courses and even exams that you have to clear. Other costs covered include certification and license fees at accredited colleges or testing facilities.
Conclusion
The four tips above not only help you manage the stress that comes with being a military spouse, they will also help you become a better parent and partner. However, if you are feeling overwhelmed, you can always reach out to services that support military spouses.
