Did you know that your brain forms how you interact with people between the ages of 18-26? The psychology of the brain helps explain why the transition out of the military and into civilian life is such a tough challenge for so many veterans.
Crystal served in the Navy from 2002 to 2005. She needed to escape her hometown of Pittsburg and saw the military as her way out. She signed up to serve in the Navy in July 2001 and began preparing for boot camp when she graduated high school a year later. Even with September 11th changing the landscape of the military she continued on her path to serve in the military.
After graduating high school she attended Boot Camp and then went to Florida for technical school to be a Cryptologic Technician Administrative and was able to secure her dream assignment to Hawaii. She spent three years in Hawaii before leaving the military to attend college in hopes of a relationship working out. And although the relationship didn’t go the way she planned she is grateful for the opportunity to go to school and it led to where she is today.
She talked about how hard it was to transition out of the military. After being a part of a culture where you can see everything you need to know about a person by looking at their uniform and having a get the mission done mindset it was hard to transition into civilian life. This is more than training the psychology of the brain is affected by what you are taught. The military trains you to respond and the cues you learn in your early 20s help form the foundation.
So, when the uniform is gone and you have to gather information about people though conversation is a different experience. It can be relearned, but having the awareness of these patterns is so important to understand and recognize.
Her first collaborative book Whispers of Grace was recently released. She also is working to become more established as a writer and speaker. With a background in mental health, she is working to leave a lasting impact on not only the veteran community but the world.
Whispers of Grace (affiliate link)
Military Service Changes Your Brain
Freedom Sisters Magazine (affiliate link)
Flawed But Still Worthy - Episode 116
Mental Health in the Military – Episode 73
Mourning the Loss of Military Service – Episode 47
Check out the full transcript here.
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