Life goals
headaches
A total of 263 Veterans (98.5%) reported their life goals. Four participants’ responses were not coded due to being intentionally skipped, unrelated to the question, or otherwise unintelligible. There was a mean of 1.86 codes per participant. The following six overarching thematic categories emerged: 1) Live a fulfilling life, 2) Live a happy life, 3) Live a healthy life, 4) Be productive/financially successful, 5) Manage GWI, and 6) Don’t know/Don’t have any.The most prevalent life goals were within the theme of living a fulfilling life (n = 188, 37.2% of 505 coded responses, 56.7% of participants). This theme consisted of four main subcategories, or codes. Participants most often reported life goals related to family and social relationships (e.g., “spend more time with family and friends,” “be a good husband and father,” “build healthy relationships and maintain them,” “have a successful marriage”; n = 101). Additional smaller codes included existential goals (e.g., “to live my life to the fullest,” “be the best person I can possibly be”; n = 38), goals related to helping others (e.g., “I want to help others that suffer,” “be an advocate to other women veterans”; n = 31), and spiritual goals (e.g., “live a peaceful life serving God,” “improve my faith in God”; n = 18).The second largest life goal was to live a happy life (n = 100, 19.8% of 505 responses, 34.6% of participants). There were three subcategories, or codes, within this larger theme which included being/feeling happy (e.g., “just to be happy,” “have peace of mind”; n = 45), enjoying life (e.g., “to enjoy life,” “be stress-free”; n = 32) and engaging in hobbies and enjoyable activities (e.g., “write my book,” “maybe travel a little,” “spend time reading and taking photographs”; n = 23).Living a happy life was followed closely by a life goal to live a healthy life (n = 99, 19.6% of 505 responses, 32.3% of participants). This theme consisted of three major codes: goals for general good health (e.g., “to live a healthy life,” “to be healthy”; n = 43), goals related to living a long life (e.g., “to live a long life,” “to live to be at least 80 years old”; n = 41), and goals related to living a healthy lifestyle (e.g., “to be active at least four days per week,” “maintain sobriety”; n = 15). Of note, this category did not encompass goals related to specifically improving GWI symptoms, but rather being and living in a healthy manner.The fourth overarching theme was to live a productive and financially successful life (n = 63, 12.5% of 505 responses, 24.0% of participants). This theme consisted of two codes: career and productivity goals (e.g., “get my degree and take a better job,” “be a productive citizen in society”; n = 35) and goals related to financial success (e.g., “to be financially comfortable to enjoy every day without having to worry about having enough money to make my bills,” “future retirement with financial stability”; n = 28).A smaller percentage of participants described life goals related to the theme of improving or reversing their GWI (n = 47, 9.3% of 505 responses, 16.3% of participants). Subcategories, or codes, within this theme included learning how to manage GWI generally (e.g., “get effective treatment for my GWI,” “manage my GWI”; n = 12), reducing specific GWI symptoms (e.g., “find a way to live pain-free,” “to manage my headaches and then go from there”; n = 27), and returning to who they were prior to their GWI symptoms (e.g., “feel like I did before the Gulf War”, “get my first life back”; n = 8).Very few participants stated that they don’t know/don’t have any life goals (n = 8, 1.6% of 505 responses, 3.0% of participants).