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Guilt involves perceived responsibility and can also come from surviving traumatic event that others did not.

Veterans may feel shame and anxiety when discussing their wartime experiences.

Cognitive immobility can help us explain why some veterans remain mentally attached to war zones.

The most troubling part of all this is that I actually liked being in Afghanistan. I didn’t want to leave. For the first year or so after we got back, I spoke openly and bluntly about the experience. Eventually, however, I started to notice a pattern: Whenever I talked about it, I’d leave the conversation feeling ashamed and become increasingly anxious over the rest of the day. So, I decided to stop bringing it up.

The most troubling part of all this is that I actually liked being in Afghanistan. I didn’t want to leave. For the first year or so after we got back, I spoke openly and bluntly about the experience. Eventually, however, I started to notice a pattern: Whenever I talked about it, I’d leave the conversation feeling ashamed and become increasingly anxious over the rest of the day. So, I decided to stop bringing it up.

These words appeared in a New York Times report written by Sgt Adam Linehan, a former US Army combat medic who served in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2011. His admission that he missed being in a war zone is common among veterans. Former US Army Major and chaplain Carlos C. Huerta has expressed similar feelings.

At the time, Linehan was experiencing sleepless nights, seeking solace in alcohol and drugs, and suffering panic attacks. One night, his wife, Sara, found him ‘... doubled over at the foot of the bed’ following a panic attack. He told her, ‘Joining the Army was a mistake’.

Linehan described his longing for Afghanistan as ‘troubling’. However, his desire to return to the war zone suggests he missed something about life there and struggled to adjust to civilian life after returning to the US. His experience reflects a familiar feeling among some veterans: ‘They came home but could not find the home they left........

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