One in three veterans of recent conflict has mental health issues

NEARLY one in three veterans who saw combat roles in Iraq or Afghanistan is suffering from a mental health disorder, a study has found.

Research from King’s College London also discovered that nearly one in five showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The figures come from surveys carried out with members of the Armed Forces between 2014 and 2016.

Among all current and ex-serving military personnel, including those who had non-combat roles, the overall rate of PTSD was found to have risen to 6 per cent from 4 per cent in 2004-06. The rate of mental health disorders rose from 20 per cent to 22 per cent.

Senior author Prof Sir Simon Wessely, Regius Professor of Psychiatry at King’s College London, said: “Our results suggest the risk of mental ill health is carried by those who have left the service, and that part of the legacy of conflicts on mental health has taken time to reveal itself. However, it would be wrong to say there is a ‘bow wave’, ‘tsunami’ or ‘time bomb’ of PTSD in the UK military and veteran community.

“The study supports the current focus on providing and improving mental health services for both serving personnel and veterans.”

Since 2001 more than 280,000 UK service personnel have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and 19,000 leave the Armed Forces each year.

The findings, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, are from the third phase of a major cohort study by the King’s Centre for Military Health

Research.

Of 8,093 participants included in the third phase of the study, 62 per cent had deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Among those who deployed to the conflicts, the rate of probable PTSD for veterans was 9 per cent compared to 5 per cent for veterans who did not deploy. However, it was far higher among ex-serving personnel who deployed in a combat role to Iraq or Afghanistan, 17 per cent reported symptoms of PTSD compared to 6 per cent of those deployed in a support role such as medical, logistics, signals and aircrew.

Prof Wessely told The Daily Telegraph that those who suffer mental illness as a result of their time in the service are more likely to leave.

The study also found that the rate of common mental disorders was raised for veterans who held a combat role, at 31 per cent compared to the overall rate of 22 per cent, although that has not increased over time.