There are more PhDs than things to study. That's just my theory. But somewhere, there is a PhD studying deployments and how it affects soldiers, families, communities, and so on. (Actually, I know one of them.) All this studying to tell us what any military wife with 2+ deployments could already tell you. And I bet she'll work cheaper than the PhD. I am being a bit facetious, as I recognize that "they" are looking for patterns across a fairly sizeable military. But reading the reports, I always wonder how much it cost to confirm what we all know.
At least this research, theoretically, will improve things for military families. My favorite PhD story of all is from a conference my husband attended where someone gave a briefing on their long, in-depth study of the declining size of alligator penises in FL. Seriously. Even funnier than the topic were the two General Officers who were joking about the topic in the row in front of my husband- mostly about how one might go about trying to measure said alligator parts, and how it was no surprise that the gators ran from the researchers, they were embarrassed by their diminutive organs.
But back to my original thought
Someone named stages of deployment, including anger, denial, grief and acceptance. But they left out insomnia.
I am sure it is stress-related, not that knowing the cause helps a whole lot. It also just makes the deployment longer because I get to consciously experience even more hours of everyday. Which makes me cranky, and then makes the kids cranky, and then raises my stress level, leading to (that's right!) insomnia.
So I will break out the home remedies- chamomile tea, soft lights, dull movies, benedryl. Let's just hope I can end the streak before it really gets going.
