Topics: Relationships
"I think Combat Stress called it emotional numbness. What you can really feel is anger and fear."Peter
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I will never know
Hayley McGreehan, a wife of a sergeant in Two Para, watches the regiment parading through Colchester after returning from Afghanistan.
Emotional numbness
After returning from Iraq three years ago, Peter Doolan has been unable to share a bed with his wife.
The person that I knew was no more
Paul Harrison's relationship broke down within two years after his return from Iraq.
It's all my fault
Jason Wilkinson committed suicide in January this year. In the weeks before his death he told his parents that his marriage had failed.
Relationships
There is no official data on how many relationships break down when soldiers return from war. Anecdotal evidence would suggest that the difficult nature of the job, the time spent away from home and the disruption of moving and re-locating, are all factors that lead to relationships ending.
Relationships: research and facts
Life in the Armed Forces places unique pressure on Britain's servicemen and women and their families. Routine Service life, with its regular moves and postings and all the accompanying uncertainty, takes its own toll on relationships. Athol Hendry and Lucy Walters from the organisation Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) discuss how periods of conflict and operational deployment can cause ordinary stresses and strains to be amplified. Read more ...
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