Military Spouse Network
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While more than half of 1.4 million current active duty service members are married, researchers at Regis University found, these military spouses are rarely considered when documenting the costs of wartime service.
According to the research, “when the average, non-military American thinks about the United States’ conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, he or she generally associates the stressors and casualties of the wars with the active-duty services members.”
Contrary to these findings, the spouses typically endure comparable amounts of stress, but their health care needs are often obscured by a primary concern for the soldier. Fortunately, reliance on self-care and spousal support can offer a viable means to cope.
Religion and politics — two topics that one is never supposed to bring up in polite company. Among friends, these topics are discussed, argued, laughed about, and cried about. Friendships are strengthened or broken. After a fierce election season, how do you move forward with your friends who voted for the other guy? Is it possible to patch your friendship up despite a political divide?
Here are six things to consider to maintain a friendship strained by the election season.
Whether it’s primal nature or simply learned behavior, humans tend to create and follow a pecking order. For military members and their families, it’s easy to fall victim to “rankism.” A service member’s rank can dictate much more than responsibilities they have at work; it can affect relationships and expectations among spouses as well.
If you’re curious as to whether you contribute to rankism or are interested in changing your perspective, here are some signs and solutions: See More
As a military spouse, talking politics can be a huge headache.
I typically try to avoid conversations about politics but being a military spouse seems to demand that everyone to ask or even assume your opinion on everything from the 99% movement to the price of milk. Having a spouse put their life on the line for this country give you every reason to have strong feelings. But non-military families likely have no clue how you feel, so your convictions may not be clear or make sense to them.
In the end, how you handle talking politics is up to you. But whether you want to engage in the debates or remain tacit, here are a few tips worth reading. See More
A deployment may top the list of challenges a military spouse must face. The distance, the safety risk, the sporadic, often delayed communication, and everything else that comes with an assignment isn’t easily understood by most people.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop people from claiming they understand as they try to counsel you. When Military Spouse Central, hosted by Veterans United, inquired on facebook about the most hurtful things military spouses have heard, an overwhelming number of responses mentioned things said about deployments.
You knew what you were signing up for. Get over it. My husband goes away on business trips all of the time. You must think about him dying all of the time.
Sound familiar? These comments can be hurtful and frustrating, but there are ways to maintain your mood as you approach the challenges of distance. See More
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