Specific Challenges Facing Military Children

Contributor: Sara Newhard, LMFT, Therapist, Eating Disorder Program Coordinator, Timberline Knolls

Adolescence, with all its emotional, physical and cognitive changes, is difficult at the best of times. However, a specific segment of the population, namely children of those in the military, face a variety of unusual life issues those others do not.

The upside of such families is parental employment, steady income, good schools and healthcare. Conversely, the downside is ubiquitous relocation, parent estrangement and the possibility of a mother or father being hurt or killed in combat.

Whereas one or two deployments are seemingly reasonable for army children, repeated, back-to-back deployments can prove problematic. Parents may see an increase in depression and anxiety along with a decrease in academic performance. In some young people, there is heightened drug and alcohol use.

Holistic Maturity

Often, military kids seem more mature than their age simply because they have had many experiences and possess an understanding of the world that their peers haven’t had; this doesn’t translate into holistic maturity.

Girl On Wall - 1-30-14In fact, when it comes to other skills or identity issues, these teens can actually be delayed and appear less mature than peers. This lack of maturation can manifest many ways, including an eating disorder.

At Timberline Knolls, we treat female adolescents of military families; among our resident’s we’ve found that it is primarily the father who is a member of the armed forces. These teens often present with a primary diagnosis of an eating disorder and often a secondary diagnosis of depression or anxiety.

We find that the nature of military life, meaning the constant relocation, is often a profound hardship for an adolescent. This can lead to emotional constriction as a method of self-protection against feelings of hurt and loss.

She becomes apathetic, shuts down her emotions, doesn’t feel her feelings. Inevitably, having to change schools and friends leaves her with a sense of having no control over her environment and life.

Structure and Rigidity

In females who are predisposed to developing mental illness, an eating disorder can be an avenue by which she can establish control. The military culture can also indirectly negatively influence an adolescent.

boy-529065_640x429This culture is defined by structure and rigidity; by default, those in the military may embrace this method of conducting business and can unwittingly superimpose this structure and inflexibility on their families. Especially in the case of a father, he may require the family to be a tight ship: highly organized, efficient, with everyone walking out their assigned roles. This places tremendous pressure on a teen to be perfect.

This perception of how a family should function can also be problematic in the future. If a daughter does struggle with anorexia or bulimia and requires intensive therapy, family involvement is crucial. Families often have a sense of urgency to get the problem “fixed,” then have the family return to “business as usual.” This will not work.

The entire family needs to understand the illness to a greater degree, and changes need to be made in the family system. Returning the adolescent to the identical environment will set the entire family up for a repeat of events and a strong likelihood that the teenager will return to her eating disorder.

Community Discussion – Share your thoughts here!

What are some of the unique challenges military families face in identifying and treating eating disorders?


The opinions and views of our guest contributors are shared to provide a broad perspective of eating disorders. These are not necessarily the views of Eating Disorder Hope, but an effort to offer discussion of various issues by different concerned individuals.

We at Eating Disorder Hope understand that eating disorders result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors. If you or a loved one are suffering from an eating disorder, please know that there is hope for you, and seek immediate professional help.

Last Updated & Reviewed By: Jacquelyn Ekern, MS, LPC on January 31, 2016
Published on EatingDisorderHope.com