Tobias Ellwood:
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.
I was reminded of him when visiting America last week, for two reasons. The first was the suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, two talented people who seemingly had it all but hid their depression until they could no longer cope. The second was a sight common in the US: complete strangers at an airport approaching a man in uniform and thanking him for his service. I wonder, did anyone ever thank my uncle?
Mental illness has long been left in the shadows, burdened by stigma and seen as secondary to physical health. Yet a third of us are likely to experience some form of it at some point in our lifetimes. 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.
This week I hosted a Nato ministerial summit for veterans’ support, where I outlined the Mod’s new approach to tackling mental health. We now speak openly of “mental fitness” and conduct screening and resilience training to prepare soldiers for the rigours of combat. Improved detection and early treatment are already helping personnel recover and swiftly return to duties. But while most veterans reintegrate into civilian life, and are statistically no more prone to mentalhealth concerns than civilians, there are still too many who suffer.
There is already a new 24/7 mentalhealth helpline run by Combat Stress and supported by the Government. Our Veterans’ Gateway offers easy online access to charity services, while our new Veterans Board coordinates policy across multiple departments and levels of government. Each local council should soon have in place a Veterans’ Champion ensuring no one who served is disadvantaged locally. We will also roll out veterans’ ID cards allowing faster recognition. These new initiatives will offer increased support and drive cultural change, but let me be the first to recognise the work still to be done to make the Armed Forces Covenant stronger.
We are all immensely proud of our armed forces, and as society becomes more comfortable talking about mental health, we can all play our part to support them. Perhaps Armed Forces Day on Saturday June 30 is an opportunity for all of us to express our personal thanks to those who have served. That is something I’d like to have done with my uncle.