Commentary on the Mental Health Advisory Team IV Operation Iraqi Freedom Final Report

Abstract

Understanding the fundamental schematic shifts servicemen and women experience as a result of combat is imperative to treating the symptoms and behaviors that may develop postdeployment. Altered perceptions of the world and themselves as a result of combat exposure may include dehumanization of the enemy and perception of the world at large as a fundamentally unpredictable and dangerous place. Although this is an adaptive human response, these altered perceptions may be slow to “reset” on return from combat, disrupting readjustment. Factors that may influence the ability of these perceptions to reset after combat exposure include the type of traumatic events experienced, the ability to identify combatant from noncombatant in the combat arena, one's experience of their own command, and postdeployment experiences that either negate or reinforce the altered perceptions.