Many Airmen will deploy during their time in the Air Force, and while not all will see combat, some will. Even those who don’t see combat can experience challenges being away from home for long periods, especially if it’s something they’ve never done before.

When some Airmen come home, they find it difficult to reestablish their routine and are often dealing with new mental health struggles they didn’t have before they deployed. If you’re a service member returning home or a loved one concerned about your Airman, we go into depth about the challenges Airmen face and how they can get the help they need to adjust to life after deployment.

Challenges Airmen Face After Returning From Deployment

It’s not uncommon for our Airmen to have challenges readjusting to life back home after returning from overseas. Returning home after a long period away can be difficult to handle, and there are many reasons why a deployment can result in these challenges, such as:

●Physical and mental trauma

●Limited access to resources

●Criticism or social stigma

●Alienation from loved ones

●Difficulty reconnecting with family and friends

●Altered routine and home structure

These challenges can make readjusting to life in the States more difficult, and it’s important to consider them when assisting service members with the transition back home.

Signs of Post-Deployment Stress

One of the factors that makes adjusting to home life after deployment difficult is the potential for Post-Deployment Stress or Syndrome (PDS). This condition is a broad term that covers a wide variety of conditions, including depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and PTSD.

The symptoms of PDS can vary, but may look like:

●Social isolation

●Nightmares, flashbacks, and other symptoms of PTSD

●Irritability or sudden violence

●Restlessness or insomnia

●Risk-taking behaviors

●Hypersensitivity or hypervigilance

●Loss of interest in activities

●Low self-esteem or insecurities

If you’ve come home from deployment and noticed these signs in yourself, it’s likely you’re struggling with readjusting to life after your deployment. These symptoms are also usually a sign of some underlying mental health condition, which generally needs treatment to see significant improvement. Knowing these signs and being able to recognize them in yourself or others will make it easier to notice when community support or mental health treatment is needed.

How to Readjust to Your Life at Home Post-Deployment

If you’re coming home from deployment or already home and finding it difficult to adjust, we’ve compiled a list of tips to help you transition back to your home life:

1. Make an Effort to Care for Yourself

Mental health struggles are common after deployment, but there are steps you can take to help reduce symptoms and ease your transition back into life at home. If you find that you’re struggling with your mental health or just generally finding readjusting more difficult, a good place to start would be to prioritize and care for yourself. Some examples include:

●Getting enough sleep each night

●Exercising at the gym regularly or playing sports

●Eating healthy meals

●Spending meaningful time with friends and family

It’s difficult to improve your mental health when you’re physical health is struggling. When you make an effort to care for your well-being, you’ll start to improve your mental health and have the energy you need to seek out additional treatment or help if needed.

2. Take Time to Process How You Feel

Feeling relief or happiness at being home after deployment are normal feelings, but they usually aren’t the only things you’ll feel when you return home. You may notice feelings like irritability or anger and may even deal with mood swings that you haven’t had before. Deployments can be stressful, and this stress can alter your behavior more than you realize.

As you readjust, acknowledge that it’s normal to feel different emotions. Take some time to truly process how you’re feeling so it’s easier to manage your emotions. If you notice you’re starting to become more irritable or angry, you can manage how you’re feeling by taking a moment and walking away from the situation that’s making you upset. If you’re feeling depressed or other similar emotions, you can reach out to someone to talk, which can make it easier to process what you’re experiencing.

Service members can reach the Veteran Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 if they feel like they may hurt themselves or attempt to end their lives.

3. Reach Out to Others

You don’t have to go through your post-deployment transition on your own. Your loved ones are there to help you, and communicating with them about what you’re feeling and what you’re struggling with will make it easier for them to understand what you’re going through and how to help. Talking with your friends and family can also help you feel more comfortable and ease the transition back into your life at home.

If you have children, they’re likely to ask questions about your time overseas. They are also likely to be more curious since their routine at home is likely to switch up now that you’ve returned. While you don’t have to tell them everything, you should consider sitting down with them to answer some of their questions, talk with them, and reestablish your connection.

Apart from friends and family, other people you’ll want to have honest discussions with are your healthcare providers. If you’re not feeling good or noticing concerning physical and mental health symptoms, your primary care physician or psychiatrist can help. Your medical team can play a significant role in helping you feel better so you can readjust to life back home.

4. Consider Mental Health Treatment

Mental health struggles are common among many service members who return home from their deployment, so it’s nothing to be ashamed of if you’re having a hard time. Avoiding your mental health can actually make your symptoms worse and impact your quality of life in the long term, so it’s important to seek treatment if you need it.

There are treatments available to help a wide variety of conditions that can occur after your deployment, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and more. With the right treatment, you can start to feel more like yourself, which will make it easier to readjust to life at home.

5. Avoid Substances

Alcohol and drugs can make your symptoms significantly worse, which is why it’s important to avoid these when you’re readjusting to life back home and even after you’ve adjusted. If you’re dealing with any mental health conditions or symptoms as a result of your deployment, it’s even more important to stay away from substances.

Rather than use substances, consider participating in activities you enjoy, such as outings with loved ones, hobbies you love, or calm nights at home watching TV or playing games.

6. Be Patient When Reestablishing Your Routine

When you come home after a deployment, you might be tempted to jump right back into your old routine to establish a sense of normalcy, but it’s important to remember that your spouse and children have adjusted to a separate routine while you were away. Having a sudden change to their routine could create additional challenges and stress, which can make your readjustment to life at home more difficult than necessary.

Instead, gradually reincorporate yourself into your family's routine. For example, you can start by having a meal as a family each night, which is a great opportunity to catch up on what you’ve missed and encourages familial bonding. You can start by adding other parts of your old routine to your family's day, whether you’re picking up your kids from school, going out on weekends, or participating in other activities you used to do as a family before your deployment. Over time, you can get back to your old routine without putting unnecessary stress on your family.

Resources You Can Use When You Need Help

Service members have access to a wide range of resources to help them when they are in need and assist them with their readjustment to life back in the States. Some resources you should keep in mind include:

●Military Crisis Line: For service members and veterans in need of immediate help, they can call 988 and press one to immediately access the Military Crisis Line, which provides crisis and mental health support to service members.

●Local programs: Your installation likely has local mental health services and programs nearby that you can use to help improve your mental health after deployment. You can find your installation’s resources by searching on the MilitaryINSTALLATIONS website.

●Mental health treatment: TRICARE covers mental health treatment through civilian providers, which you can find through the TRICARE mental health website. If you want to find treatment centers nearby, you can also use their convenient locator.

●Primary care treatment: You can also talk with your current doctor about your concerns regarding your mental health. Your primary care provider may be able to provide treatment themselves, or they can help you find resources or make recommendations so you can start getting treatment to help you while you’re readjusting to life back home.

AUSI Offers Our Gratitude and Support to Our Airmen

Those of us at American Uniform Sales would like to extend our gratitude and support for our Airmen and those who have deployed or are returning from deployment. We recognize the importance of mental health services and accessible resources for our Airmen returning home from deployment. We hope that our information has been useful to you and can help you or a loved one readjust to life at home after deployment.