Introduction
Although modern warfare has changed military conflicts in many ways, the impact of war on the minds of those who participate in it directly has remained the same. Soldiers and commanding leaders of any rank experience violence, death, and pain every day during their deployment, and they have to participate in it. The significant amount of aggression against other people breaches the line of moral standards taught to all since childhood. As an outcome, soldiers who went through such distress change, experiencing challenges with mental health even after the conflict is over, and they return home.
The story The Things They Carried by O’Brien demonstrates how quickly the war can change one’s outlook on life. The main character, Lieutenant Cross, discards his fantasies of love and finds a “new hardness in his stomach” after witnessing the death of his subordinate (O’Brien 24). War takes away the joy of love and dreaming and replaces it with the aloof seriousness and concentration required to excel in combat.
Such changes do not disappear once soldiers return to the civilian world as veterans. The horrors of the war stay with them, taking the form of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and more. Modern scholarship explores this topic from different angles, but an interesting and new path is the focus on modern warfare and its specific differences in affecting soldiers’ mental health. The present research paper analyzes the overall impact of war on one’s mental health and argues that modern solutions, such as drones, do not ease soldiers’ mental toll, creating additional challenges such as burnout and emotional disengagement.
General Psychological Impact
Soldiers’ mental health challenges after they return from active combat are well-documented in the existing scholarly works. It is estimated that approximately 30% of veterans develop PTSD (“How Common is PTSD”). This condition means that they experience recurring memories of war, have flashbacks of the most distressing moments, have sleep problems, and show such mood changes as irritability, negative thinking, detachment, and emotional numbness (Elder et al. 3; Enemark 151; Koenig et al. 2). Other problems, including depression, anxiety, inability to form relationships, suicidal ideations, are also common, and their rates have not decreased in the last decades (Elder et al. 3; Kühn et al. 247; Koenig et al. 3). Thus, a major part of the individuals who live as civilians after returning from war struggle to reintegrate into society and experience mental health issues for many years after the inciting event.
Studies exploring the effects of military action find many potential mechanisms behind the development of such conditions. In some cases, physical injury increases the risk of mental distress, especially if the person experiences a concussion or brain injury (Elder 15). The stress of the warzone may also contribute to the development of some problems as it changes the brain structure (Kühn et al. 247). One of the most damaging aspects of war is moral injury – the result of engaging in killing or hurting other people, as it is an action that goes against the peaceful ethical code of society (Koenig et al. 5). Here, the cause of mental health consequences is the emotional damage that affects one’s capacity for empathy.
The development of PTSD in soldiers is based on how they engage with these processes, their unique characteristics, and their resilience to stressors. If a person is psychologically flexible, they may be at a decreased risk of returning from war with long-lasting psychological effects. In contrast, even if one perceives themselves to be resilient, the outcomes of military combat may result in them having PTSD and memories of traumatic events for many years following their deployment (Meyer et al. 2). The types of violence people encounter, and their behavior during the war affect their health after the combat is over.
Drones: Differences in Modern Warfare
Modern tools and devices used in combat change the process of war. For instance, drones are unmanned aerial vehicles that can be used for surveillance as well as attacks from the air (Saini et al. S15). Their operators can be situated far from the reach of these machines, staying in a safe zone and observing the action from an integrated camera.
This technology influences how people perceive military activity and also impacts the course of the war by allowing for powerful and quick strikes against the enemy. A tactical advantage of drones may be viewed positively by military specialists, as it allows people to operate machines with relative safety. Nevertheless, they also pose a risk to operators who have to observe other people and their deaths from the device.
Effects of Operating Drones
From the description of drones, it is clear that these vehicles present a different way of participating in military combat than more direct methods, such as hand-held guns. Claims that such types of combat help soldiers disengage from violence and become immune to mental distress are disputed by scholarship (Enemark 155; Saini et al. S15). In contrast, the common moral injuries among soldiers are supplemented by emotional exhaustion in drone operators who survey the area with people who may become potential victims (Enemark 151; Saini et al. S16).
Drone strikes, in comparison to face-to-face combat, are much more deadly and can take many lives in a short time (Enemark 162). Being led by one person or a small group of people, such operations have a substantial impact and leave significant moral injuries. Operators see the results of their actions on a screen in real-time, which may explain the high level of psychological distress.
Another underlying reason for such outcomes as burnout, emotional exhaustion, and disengagement is the principle of just war. While other types of combat that require one’s presence in the field expose soldiers to the risk of being killed or injured, drone operatingprotects soldiers from this danger (Enemark 158). As a result, the issue of justice presents a moral dilemma to the individuals – they are safe and cannot be harmed, but their enemies are being targeted and cannot pose any threat to them. The outcome of this discrepancy leads to moral conflict and potentially increases the distress that drone operators feel, increasing the need to limit empathy and disengage from one’s emotions.
Conclusion
The moral injuries inflicted upon soldiers during military combat lead to long-term consequences and mental health disorders. The scholarship demonstrates that a significant number of veterans have PTSD, depression, burnout, and more as a result of participating in wars. Types of moral injury related to the need to kill and hurt other people require soldiers to forego their empathy, separating them from the moral standards of the civilian world.
In modern warfare, the effect of moral injuries is strengthened due to drones’ increased damage and reduced risks. The ethical conflicts of using drones expose soldiers to complex dilemmas and urge them to question the justice behind their actions. As a result, they experience moral distress and emotional exhaustion.
Works Cited
Elder, Gregory A., et al. “Relationship of Traumatic Brain Injury to Chronic Mental Health Problems and Dementia in Military Veterans.” Neuroscience Letters, vol. 707, no. 134294, 2019, pp. 1-23.
Enemark, Christian. “Drones, Risk, and Moral Injury.” Critical Military Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2019, pp. 150-167.
“How Common is PTSD in Veterans?” US Department of Veteran Affairs, 2022. Web.
Koenig, Harold G., et al. “Assessment of Moral Injury in Veterans and Active Duty Military Personnel with PTSD: A Review.” Frontiers in Psychiatry, vol. 10, no. 443. 2019, pp. 1-15.
Kühn, Simone, et al. “The Brain at War: Effects of Stress on Brain Structure in Soldiers Deployed to a War Zone.” Translational Psychiatry, vol. 11, no. 1, 2021, p. 247.
Meyer, Eric C., et al. “Predictors of Lower-Than-Expected Posttraumatic Symptom Severity in War Veterans: The Influence of Personality, Self-Reported Trait Resilience, and Psychological Flexibility.” Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 113, 2019, pp. 1-8.
O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. 2009, Mariner Books.
Saini, Rajiv Kumar, et al. “Cry in the Sky: Psychological Impact on Drone Operators.” Industrial Psychiatry Journal, no. 30, vol. Suppl. 1, 2021, pp. S15-S19.