6,000 soldiers on anti-depressants
AN Australian skipper became the first woman to win the Clipper Round the World yacht race yesterday.
Wendy Tuck, 53, said she was feeling “a bit of shock, disbelief, joy, sadness” after pulling into Liverpool 11 months after 12 yachts set off.
British skipper Nikki Henderson, 25, the daughter of Tory MP Anne Milton, came second and said she was proud of her team for “fighting right until the end”.
Race co-founder Sir Robin Knoxjohnston, the first man to sail nonstop around the world, said the pair’s achievements “could not be overestimated” adding: “To have men and women competing in sport on a level playing field is special.” AT LEAST 6,000 troops are popping anti-depressants for their mental health.
Figures show one in 13 soldiers since 2016 were given pills, including Prozac, for conditions ranging from post-traumatic stress to physical injuries.
The stats obtained under freedom of information rules follows the disclosure forces’ morale is at a ten-year low. This year there have been 20 suspected suicides among serving members of the military. Ex-staff Sgt Trevor Coult, 43, diagnosed with PTSD after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he was fobbed off with the anti-depressant Citalopram.
Military Cross winner Trevor, from Suffolk, said: “It was a case of ‘here you are now go away’.
“I was on them for a couple of months and then realised they weren’t doing any good.”
He said they covered rather than cured problems and that troops with PTSD need “proper counselling not antidepressants.” The Sunday People has been campaigning to save our soldiers and last month revealed more than 300 serving armed forces members have killed themselves since 1998.
More troops are diagnosed with mental health problems each year but experts think they do not seek help because they fear the effect on their careers.
An MOD spokesman said: “All medication prescribed to military personnel is done so by trained medical professionals.”