M A Lyons1. 1. University of Alabama, Capstone College of Nursing, Tuscaloosa 35487-0358, USA. mlyons@bama.ua.edu
Abstract
AIM OF THE STUDY: This phenomenological study examined what it was like for the wives/female partners to live with a Vietnam veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PROCEDURE: Audio-taped interviews were conducted with 10 women and data were examined from three overlapping phases of the veteran/partner relationship: the early phase, the middle phase and the later phase. FINDINGS: The early phase was conceptualized as a period of adjustment in which three themes were identified: (1) attractors, (2) feelings and (3) communication. The middle phase, one of enmeshment, was characterized by six themes: (1) dealing with veteran PTSD symptoms, (2) substance abuse, (3) physical and/or emotional abuse, (4) roles, (5) feelings and (6) coping techniques. Three themes depicted the later phase of resolution/healing: (1) stress related symptoms, (2) staying or leaving and (3) activities that promoted an ongoing process of resolution/healing. CONCLUSIONS: The central meaning statement that best described the experience of wives/female partners who live with a Vietnam veteran with PTSD is that the experience is a gradual process of becoming enmeshed in the veteran's pathology, with all energies being directed at minimizing the effect on self and family, culminating in intermittent movement towards resolution/healing. This study has implications for practitioners who treat Vietnam PTSD veterans and their wives or female partners.
AIM OF THE STUDY: This phenomenological study examined what it was like for the wives/female partners to live with a Vietnam veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PROCEDURE: Audio-taped interviews were conducted with 10 women and data were examined from three overlapping phases of the veteran/partner relationship: the early phase, the middle phase and the later phase. FINDINGS: The early phase was conceptualized as a period of adjustment in which three themes were identified: (1) attractors, (2) feelings and (3) communication. The middle phase, one of enmeshment, was characterized by six themes: (1) dealing with veteran PTSD symptoms, (2) substance abuse, (3) physical and/or emotional abuse, (4) roles, (5) feelings and (6) coping techniques. Three themes depicted the later phase of resolution/healing: (1) stress related symptoms, (2) staying or leaving and (3) activities that promoted an ongoing process of resolution/healing. CONCLUSIONS: The central meaning statement that best described the experience of wives/female partners who live with a Vietnam veteran with PTSD is that the experience is a gradual process of becoming enmeshed in the veteran's pathology, with all energies being directed at minimizing the effect on self and family, culminating in intermittent movement towards resolution/healing. This study has implications for practitioners who treat Vietnam PTSD veterans and their wives or female partners.