If you need immediate help, please call 911 or the Military Crisis Line at 800-273-8255 and press 1
The demands of military life are challenging. Whether at home or abroad, service members regularly face difficult situations that can cause stress and anxiety.
When left unchecked, these feelings can last weeks or months, get worse, or interfere with your duties at home and in uniform. For this reason, it is important to reach out to your health care provider if you feel intense or lasting stress or anxiety. Your provider can work with you to manage your symptoms and keep you mission ready. Use the following resources to learn about stress, anxiety and other related topics.
Traumatic events related to combat or deployments can occur during your military service. These experiences may cause stress reactions that can negatively impact your psychological health. However, it is important to remember that you and your family can face similar experiences following a natural or human-made disaster.
Reaching out for care for your psychological health is an important, positive step in your military career. When seeking a role that requires a national security clearance, you will be instructed to fill out the Standard Form 86 (SF86), “Questionnaire for National Security Positions.” [PDF] The federal government uses information from this form to conduct background checks and evaluate individuals who are:
Military spouses of service members face unique stressors. They often cope with multiple deployments, frequent moves, long separations and concerns about their loved one’s future. Many times they even have to manage a household and family alone. These realities of military life can take a toll on military spouses and impact the entire family. Children often take their emotional cues from their parents, so a parent’s anxiety can result in a stressful environment for the entire household. That is why it is important to address concerns as early as possible.
