For many women who serve or have served in the United States Armed Forces, the high-stakes demands and time away from home is more than a difficult work-life balance; it’s a constant gut-wrenching conflict between their identity as a soldier and their role in relationships with friends, family and their community.

Consider an Air Force sergeant deployed overseas. By day, she manages critical aircraft logistics; by night, she’s on a video call, trying to help her child with homework while feeling the pang of missing another birthday. This is the reality of dual-role stress in female soldiers — an emotional load that many of their male peers don’t carry with the same intensity or societal pressure.

This internal conflict can contribute to the effects of deployment on military mothers, including heightened anxiety and depression. Acknowledging this unique challenge isn’t about weakness; it’s about seeing the heavier burden women in the military often carry.

For many service members, the most profound trauma doesn’t come from an outside enemy; it happens within their own ranks. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) uses the term military sexual trauma (MST) to refer to experiences of sexual assault or repeated, threatening sexual harassment that occurred during military service. MST is not a mental health diagnosis like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); it’s the description of a deeply damaging event.

The scale of this problem is staggering. According to VA data, about one in three women veterans who use VA healthcare report that they experienced MST. This statistic highlights a difficult reality: for a significant number of female service members, the very environment that is supposed to ensure their safety becomes a source of profound personal harm.

What makes MST so uniquely devastating is the profound sense of betrayal. Soldiers are trained to rely on their unit for survival; these are the people you trust with your life. When that trust is shattered by a fellow service member, it breaks more than just a rule — it attacks a person’s fundamental ability to feel safe in the world. The violation comes from within the family that was sworn to protect you.

This deep-seated breach of trust is why the aftershocks of MST are so severe and long-lasting, often leading to conditions like severe anxiety and depression. The PTSD symptoms that result in female veterans from this kind of trauma can look very different from combat-related stress, shaping a unique and challenging path to recovery.

When we hear about PTSD, our minds often jump to firefights and explosions. But for many service members, especially women, the trauma that leads to PTSD isn’t tied to direct combat. A severe training accident, the emotional toll of providing battlefield medical care or the profound betrayal of MST can all overwhelm the brain’s ability to cope. Trauma is defined by the experience of terror and helplessness, not by its source.

Because the causes can be different, the signs of PTSD in women often defy the common stereotype of anger and aggression. While those symptoms can occur, PTSD symptoms in female veterans frequently present as internal struggles — crippling anxiety, deep depression or a feeling of emotional numbness that disconnects them from their loved ones. This makes their struggle less visible to the outside world.

Common PTSD symptoms in women can include:

• Re-experiencing the event through nightmares or flashbacks
• Avoiding people or places that are reminders of the trauma
• Increased anxiety and feeling constantly on edge
• Feelings of numbness, depression or misplaced guilt

These internal battles don’t end when a soldier takes off her uniform for the last time. In fact, they can create an invisible wall, making the transition back to civilian life a challenging and isolating experience.

When a woman veteran seeks support, she may find that traditional veterans’ groups feel unwelcoming. For generations, these spaces were predominantly male, and a woman walking in might feel unwelcome or out of place. This sense of exclusion is one of the biggest challenges for women transitioning from military life, deepening an already profound sense of isolation.

This feeling of being an outsider can also surface in healthcare. Many VA facilities were originally designed for a male population. A woman seeking help for trauma might find herself in a waiting room full of men — a potentially triggering experience. These barriers to mental healthcare for female veterans are often the result of a system still adapting to the growing number of women in service.

Fortunately, as awareness of these issues grows, so does the number of dedicated support groups for female service members and veterans, as well as programs focused on helping women reclaim their story and build a new future.

The journey of a woman in service is complex, marked by challenges often invisible to the public — from navigating a male-dominated system to the profound betrayal of MST. The first step is knowing where to turn for meaningful support.

If you or a woman service member or veteran you know is seeking support, these resources are a powerful starting point:

• Women Veterans Call Center: Call or text 1-855-VA-WOMEN for immediate support.
• Vet Centers: For confidential, community-based peer counseling.
• The VA’s “Make the Connection”: A website featuring real stories of recovery.

The story of the woman veteran is one of profound resilience. By listening, learning and sharing resources, you help ensure their incredible strength is met with the support it has always deserved.

Salt Lake Behavioral Health in Salt Lake City provides military-specific programs, including women’s programs for PTSD and MST. If you have questions about requesting a referral from your unit or mental health provider, please call 877-640-0220.