MILITARY TO CIVILIAN An Online Project to Promote Reintegration Among Veterans Findings from Military to Civilian published!

Findings from the Military to Civilian study were published in the October 2015 issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress.
Sayer N.A., Noorbaloochi S., Frazier P.A., Pennebaker J.W., Orazem R.J., Schnurr P.P., Murdoch M., Carlson K.F., Gravely A., & Litz B.T. (2015). Randomized controlled trial of online expressive writing to address readjustment difficulties among U.S. Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 28, 381-390. doi:10.1002/jts.22047
In a study of 1,292 Veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, we found that Veterans who completed online expressive writing experienced more improvement in psychological symptoms, physical symptoms and life functioning than Veterans who wrote factually and those who did not write at all. Results pertain to male and female Afghanistan and Iraq war Veterans who believe they are having at least a little reintegration difficulty. We did not include Veterans with severe depression in our study so results may not pertain to them. Veterans in the expressive writing condition were asked to write for 20 minutes on 4 days about their deepest thoughts and feelings about reintegrating into civilian life. Click Here for Expressive Writing Instructions Veterans can complete expressive writing from any location and at their convenience. The benefits of this brief intervention are small, and it is not a substitute for professional help. Nevertheless, because expressive writing is so accessible, its benefits may be extended to a large number of Veterans with reintegration difficulty - whether or not they have a formal diagnosis or whether or not they are getting treatment.

Can I try expressive writing?
If you would like to try expressive writing for yourself, the instructions are available here.

Thank you! Nearly 1,300 Veterans from across the country participated in the Military 2 Civilian study. We greatly appreciate their participation!

If you are feeling upset and would like help, please call the Veterans Crisis Line:
1-800-273-TALK (8255).

The Military 2 Civilian research study was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) Service
(grant no. DHI-07-150) and the Department of Defense (DoD) (grant no. 08-2-0045). The sponsors were not involved in any aspect of the study's design and conduct;
collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of data; or in the preparation, review, or approval of our published work or this website.

This website was created and is maintained by the Military 2 Civilian study team. The findings and conclusions presented on this site are those of the study team
and do not necessarily represent the views of the VA, HSR&D, or DoD.