How Crossing Boundaries Affects Our Veterans

Boundaries keep us safe and help us feel peaceful. When we have to defend ourselves, it can actually make us physically sick. Soldiers defend our borders and are deployed overseas to cross enemy lines. Let’s look at how this affects our veterans physical and mental health.

Crossing And Defending Boundaries Hurts Our Health

When civilians are constantly defending their personal boundaries, we get physically sick. Drs. Cloud and Townsend explain in their book Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No, to Take Control of Your Life:

Many clinical psychological symptoms, such as: depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, addictions, impulsive disorders, guilt problems, sharing issues, panic disorders, marital and relational struggles find their root in conflicts with boundaries.

Defending America’s Boundaries Hurts Vets’ Health

Veterans pay a high price for protecting these boundaries. From RAND, of the 2.7 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans:

20% suffer from PTSD and/or depression
50% of the veterans who suffer from PTSD seek treatment, and then only half of them get “minimally adequate” treatment
14% suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder; 39% from alcohol abuse; 3% from drug abuse
5,000 to 8,000 veterans commit suicide each year, equaling 22 veteran suicides every day
Almost 50,000 veterans are homeless per the National Alliance to End Homelessness

Let’s take just a few minutes not just on Veteran’s Day, but every day to thank the brave men and women in our military, who happen also to be our family, members. Thank you for your love of country and family and service to the great United States of America, God Bless you all.

The post How Crossing Boundaries Affects Our Veterans appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.