The hurting hero and the camouflaged consort : a qualitative collective case study to identify limitations to help-seeking behaviors among active-duty enlisted servicemembers and their spouses at Goodfellow Air Force Base.

The interconnectedness of military work and military life results in unique inhibitors to help-seeking behaviors for military personnel and their spouses. The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to shed light on perceived elements that contribute to limiting help-seeking behaviors among active-duty enlisted servicemembers and military spouses in the U.S. military across a multitude of help-providing agencies. Highlighting inhibitors to the complex, multi-faceted problem of help-seeking in this population is a step toward curbing the military suicide epidemic, which has been on the rise over the last two decades and peaked at 28.7 deaths per every 100,000 personnel in 2020 (Defense Suicide Prevention Office, 2020). The theoretical framework undergirding all aspects of this research was Homans’s (1958) social exchange theory. There were three literature review focus areas formed to understand elements that contribute to active-duty enlisted servicemembers’ and military spouses’ decisions to seek help. The three literature review focus areas were military culture and military image, the importance of organizational trust and reciprocity, and the impacts of stress. This study answers the following primary and sub-research questions: What are the experiences of active-duty enlisted servicemembers and military spouses in regard to seeking help at a military help agency? The two sub-questions presented were: What is the perceived impact of seeking help on an active-duty enlisted servicemember’s or military spouse’s self-identity? What is the perceived impact on a military member’s career when an active-duty enlisted servicemember or military spouse seeks help? I employed three data collection methods to collect qualitative data to better understand help-seeking behaviors in the military. I collected data from eight participants comprising two cases, the first of which was comprised of former active-duty enlisted servicemembers and the second of which was comprised of spouses of active-duty enlisted servicemembers. My research unveiled eight research findings, seven of which served as unique inhibitors to help-seeking in the U.S. military.