PTSD rates climbing in British army: study

MEMBERS of the British armed forces are suffering increased rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, principally among those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, new research revealed yesterday.

Rates of probable PTSD among current and former serving military personnel reached 6 percent in 2014-16, up from 4 percent in 2004-06, the King’s College London study said.

The results of a major cohort study, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, showed frontline soldiers were most affected, but so were those who have left the military.

About 17 percent of ex-military personnel who had combat roles in Iraq or Afghanistan reported symptoms suggesting probable PTSD, compared to 6 percent of those who were deployed in support roles, such as logistics.

The overall rate of probable PTSD for veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars was 9 percent, compared to 5 percent of those who did not deploy to those conflicts.

The rate of probable PTSD among serving personnel was 5 percent, close to the rate among the general population.

“For the first time we have identified that the risk of PTSD for veterans deployed in conflicts was substantially higher than the risk for those still serving,” said Dr Sharon Stevelink from King’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. The rate may be higher among veterans because personnel who are mentally unwell are more likely to leave the military.