Coming Home You’ve just heard that you are heading home!  This is a happy time that may also be mixed with conflicting emotions and possibly some worry. Your family found a new balance while you were away, creating a new challenge when you return.  Each family member has coped with new experiences, both good and bad. Each person has had to learn and adjust.  Homecoming can be a time of great excitement but it can also result in frustration and let down because of unmet, unrealistic fantasies about reunion and returning to “normal life”.

Coping Strategies:

• Try to stand in each other’s shoes.
• Recognize that everybody in the family has had to make adjustments and that each of you is making new adjustments now.
• Act on your shared sense of purpose:
  • Find ways to have fun and relax as a family
  • Work together to thank those who helped out during the deployment
  • Give yourself and everyone else some time to adjust

Here are additional resources you may find useful:

Readjustment

• Face of the New Veteran - Resources for Veterans and Families (PDF) - Includes a select set of programs with telephone numbers or websites. Supports the web-based video: Face of the New Veteran: Operation Enduring/Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF)
• Face of the New Veteran - Supporting Information (PDF) - Describes what a select set of organizations provide for veterans, these organizations include: Vet Centers, Veterans Benefits Administration, Suicide Prevention Hotline, National Center for PTSD, Military Onesource, Deployment Health Clinical Center, VA forms, Transition Assistance Advisors.
• Battlemind Training (select "Continue to website" if website security message appears)
• Returning from the War Zone: A Guide for Military Personnel (PDF)
• Warzone Related Stress Reactions (PDF)
• Sleep Problems (PDF)
• Stress, Trauma, and Alcohol and Drug Use (PDF)
• Anniversary Reactions - impact of trauma anniversaries
• Getting Ready to Deploy

Early Warning Signs/Reactions

• Depression (PDF)
• Physical Trauma (PDF)
• Seeking Help for Veterans with PTSD 
• Womens Veterans Program

Family and Loved Ones

• Courage to Care - offers several helpful fact sheets for you and your family
• Becoming a Couple Again (PDF)

Employment, Education, Family Issues

• Reentering the Workplace (PDF) 
• Employment Services for Veterans
• HireVetsFirst

Benefits

• Eligibility/Benefits
• Resource Links & Benefits 

North Carolina Resources

• NCcareLink  A comprehensive health and human services website providing up-to-date information about programs and services across NC
• NC CARE-LINE: "Linking NC citzens with services" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by calling 1-800-662-7030 (English/Spanish)
• NC Health Info: Health and medical information in a searchable database

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