A Brief Overview of the Effect of War Injuries on Sexual Health and Intimacy

This chapter establishes definitions of sexual health and intimacy, provides insight into how they interact and affect successful relationships, and communicates the importance of addressing the sexual and intimacy needs of injured service members and their partners. Common deployment-related diagnoses, including post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, orthopedic injuries, spinal cord injuries, genital injuries, burns, and facial injuries, and their possible corresponding limitations are reviewed, along with how such limitations can result in sexual avoidance and intimacy avoidance, thus leading to more relationship issues and poor quality of life. The experience of partners, including perceptions about the dependence of the injured service member, is discussed as well.