Army uncle took his own life, says Ellwood, in warning on mental illness in the Forces
TOBIAS ELLWOOD has revealed his army veteran uncle killed himself having suffered depression in silence, as he says soldiers’ mental illness has too long been “left in the shadows”.
It comes as new figures have shown the rate of mental health disorder among UK Armed Forces has increased over the past decade. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, the defence minister opens up about his uncle’s suicide for the first time.
Mr Ellwood writes that John Clarke, his uncle, found it “impossible to battle his demons” and was eventually “defeated” by them, taking his own life when Mr Ellwood was four years old.
He warns that mental illness has been “burdened by stigma” even though “a third of us are likely to experience some form of it during our lifetimes”.
Mr Ellwood served in the Royal Green Jackets between 1991 and 1996, rising to the rank of captain. He was posted to Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Kuwait, Germany, Gibraltar and Bosnia, and is now a reservist.
He said: “During my military service soldiers were happy to declare a knee injury and step back from duties to recover, but voicing a problem with the mind was taboo, considered, wrongly, a sign of weakness.
“Today we know that if mental illness is left unaddressed it can incubate into a downward spiral, leading in extreme cases to homelessness and suicide.”
On Thursday, he led the first ever European conference on veterans’ mental health, which gathered representatives from the UK, France, Ger- many, Denmark, Italy and Holland. During the summit, the minister outlined the Ministry of Defence’s new approach to tackling mental health. As part of it, local councils will soon have in place a veterans’ champion to support former soldiers. The Government will also be introducing veterans’ ID cards, enabling swifter recognition of their past service.
Rates of mental disorder among serving Armed Forces personnel have risen over the past decade to 3.1 per cent – although they remain slightly below those of the general population, which are at 3.5 per cent, new figures from the Ministry of Defence have shown.
Mr Ellwood wrote: “As a young boy, I knew two things about my uncle: that he was a veteran, and that he committed suicide. Today I’m aware he suffered from depression. Our family knew he was not himself but he found it impossible to battle his demons and, in the end, they defeated him.”