Soldiers left to battle on alone

WHEN I worked for an outreach project for homeless people and those addicted to drugs, I was shocked by how many exservicemen I came across. Many were haunted by what they had witnessed and dogged by depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Some turned to alcohol or illicit drugs to anaesthetise themselves, some to crime, others to suicide.

While we tend to have good services for veterans whose physical health has been affected by fighting for their country, the same cannot be said for those who suffer mental health problems — which means many are left battling mental illness and behavioural problems alone.

This week, paramedics and police spoke out about this under-reported problem and the strain it’s putting on 999 services because veterans have nowhere else to turn. A serving soldier kills him or herself once a month, and there are thought to be more than 10,000 veterans with mental health problems.

That there isn’t appropriate specialist support for these people is both a scandal and a national embarrassment. At the moment, most of the help comes from the charity sector, with organisations such as Combat Stress doing great work.

But really, as a country, we should be stepping up to the plate and ensuring that these soldiers are given the absolute best care as a matter of course. We shouldn’t have to rely on charities to step in.

It’s worrying, too, that such high numbers of veterans are in prison. The fact that the crimes committed are often violent suggests that the way in which service personnel are being prepared for civilian life is grossly inadequate.

This all points to something clearly going wrong. It’s simply unfair to ask people to serve their country and not make adequate arrangements for them to be supported when they return home.