There comes the crossing of the line again, what I call the return across the threshold. The line through which you passed when you went into the abyss is the line through which you pass when you leave the powers behind. But can you get back up into the world of light? Is there going to be spontaneous remission, you might say, or are you going to remain the prey of these powers underneath?
Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss, p. 119
Combat Veterans: Back through the Rocks
by Reg Harris
Copyright © 2010 by Reg Harris. All rights reserved.
Campbell writes that “the crises of the descent and return will match.” The mythical hero who passed into the journey/abyss through the clashing rocks must return to the world through those same clashing rocks. As is often the case, the lessons of hero myths are valid for heroes in real life, as well. This may be especially true for veterans returning from war. For many veterans, the problems they will face crossing the return threshold at the end of their journeys will be just a challenging as the trauma they faced in boot camp and deployment at the beginning of their journeys.
Several months ago I began working with a group from the psychology department at University of California, San Francisco, and Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital (SF) to develop an on-line class to help veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq reintegrate with civilian life. The class is being modeled on the hero’s journey pattern (the “Warrior’s Journey” in this case). It will incorporate literature, film, science (neurobiology) and writing to help the returning veterans make the difficult transition from the hyper-arousal and intense camaraderie of combat to the relative calm and changed relationships of their civilian lives.
Campbell’s comments about remaining prey to the powers underneath and the return threshold matching the entry threshold describe the struggle many of our soldiers face when they come home. On the surface, the struggle involves finding a job, readjusting to civilian life and reestablishing relationships with family and friends. But beneath the surface, returning veterans may face traumatic psychological and biological problems:
-
breaking free of the adrenaline-high addiction of combat,
-
repairing the physical rewiring of the neural pathways in their brains that made them warriors,
-
healing the physical damage caused by chronic high levels of stress,
-
resolving lingering feelings of guilt that may surface when they leave the brutal context of war, and
-
breaking or reframing the intense emotional bonds that develop between soldiers who rely on each other for their lives.
Resolving these issues can be challenging and painful. For example, it may take months of intense effort to “rewire” the neural connections that were fused by combat. During that time, vets may have trouble being in crowds or in re-establishing close relationships or in adjusting to loud noises. The automatic responses that were hard-wired into their brains do not simply disappear when they leave combat. Overcoming the effects of these changes in their brains could be just as challenging and painful as the rewiring that made them warriors during boot camp and initial combat.
Returning vets also face the challenge of rebuilding relationships. Not only will they have changed during their time in combat, but their families will have changed. Wives, for example, will have become more independent as they had to cope with life without their husbands, or vice versa. Relationships with friends may be strained as vets, who faced the dangers of bombings and mortar fire every day, struggle to find meaning in the relative banalities of the activities and worries that occupy their friends.
Understandably, many veterans, rather than face the psychological and emotional challenges of returning to civilian life, will return to combat, to where life is a “simple” matter of survival, where the difficult choices are made for them, where they have “family” forged by combat, and where their warrior conditioning will be welcomed and appropriate rather than questioned or pitied.
For many veterans, Campbell’s questions about the return threshold are right on target: “…can you get back up into the world of light?” or “…or are you going to remain the prey of these powers underneath?
Your feedback is always welcome. Contact me.
The Hero’s Journey: News
There comes the crossing of the line again, what I call the return across the threshold. The line through which you passed when you went into the abyss is the line through which you pass when you leave the powers behind. But can you get back up into the world of light? Is there going to be spontaneous remission, you might say, or are you going to remain the prey of these powers underneath?
Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss, p. 119
Combat Veterans: Back through the Rocks
by Reg Harris
Copyright © 2010 by Reg Harris. All rights reserved.
Campbell writes that “the crises of the descent and return will match.” The mythical hero who passed into the journey/abyss through the clashing rocks must return to the world through those same clashing rocks. As is often the case, the lessons of hero myths are valid for heroes in real life, as well. This may be especially true for veterans returning from war. For many veterans, the problems they will face crossing the return threshold at the end of their journeys will be just a challenging as the trauma they faced in boot camp and deployment at the beginning of their journeys.
Several months ago I began working with a group from the psychology department at University of California, San Francisco, and Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital (SF) to develop an on-line class to help veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq reintegrate with civilian life. The class is being modeled on the hero’s journey pattern (the “Warrior’s Journey” in this case). It will incorporate literature, film, science (neurobiology) and writing to help the returning veterans make the difficult transition from the hyper-arousal and intense camaraderie of combat to the relative calm and changed relationships of their civilian lives.
Campbell’s comments about remaining prey to the powers underneath and the return threshold matching the entry threshold describe the struggle many of our soldiers face when they come home. On the surface, the struggle involves finding a job, readjusting to civilian life and reestablishing relationships with family and friends. But beneath the surface, returning veterans may face traumatic psychological and biological problems:
breaking free of the adrenaline-high addiction of combat,
repairing the physical rewiring of the neural pathways in their brains that made them warriors,
healing the physical damage caused by chronic high levels of stress,
resolving lingering feelings of guilt that may surface when they leave the brutal context of war, and
breaking or reframing the intense emotional bonds that develop between soldiers who rely on each other for their lives.
Resolving these issues can be challenging and painful. For example, it may take months of intense effort to “rewire” the neural connections that were fused by combat. During that time, vets may have trouble being in crowds or in re-establishing close relationships or in adjusting to loud noises. The automatic responses that were hard-wired into their brains do not simply disappear when they leave combat. Overcoming the effects of these changes in their brains could be just as challenging and painful as the rewiring that made them warriors during boot camp and initial combat.
Returning vets also face the challenge of rebuilding relationships. Not only will they have changed during their time in combat, but their families will have changed. Wives, for example, will have become more independent as they had to cope with life without their husbands, or vice versa. Relationships with friends may be strained as vets, who faced the dangers of bombings and mortar fire every day, struggle to find meaning in the relative banalities of the activities and worries that occupy their friends.
Understandably, many veterans, rather than face the psychological and emotional challenges of returning to civilian life, will return to combat, to where life is a “simple” matter of survival, where the difficult choices are made for them, where they have “family” forged by combat, and where their warrior conditioning will be welcomed and appropriate rather than questioned or pitied.
For many veterans, Campbell’s questions about the return threshold are right on target: “…can you get back up into the world of light?” or “…or are you going to remain the prey of these powers underneath?
Your feedback is always welcome. Contact me.