The gambling problems facing Army veterans
BRITISH army veterans are nearly 11 times more likely to have a gambling problem than the average civilian, a study has revealed.
Ex-soldiers face debt, job and relationship loss, poor health and criminal behaviour, researchers warn, due to the risk of gambling in the military population.
One in 10 UK military veterans get into financial difficulties after leaving the forces, and routine mental health assessments after deployment do not currently include warning them about the dangers of gambling.
Researchers say that there are economic, social and health reasons for former soldiers to be warned and assessed for gambling after leaving the Armed Forces, according to research published in the journal BMJ Military Health.
The survey asked 5,147 people, including 1,037 who were military veterans, about their mental health and health services.
Participants were nearly all men, aged 30-39, and more than two-thirds were in work.
If participants said they gambled, they completed the Problem Gambling Severity Index PGSI where a score of 0 indicates no problems while scores of 8 or more indicate problem gambling.
Two-thirds (67%) of those who had not served in the Army weren’t problem gamblers. But more than four out of 10 (43%) of the military veterans were.
Overall, veterans were nearly 11 times as likely to have a gambling problem as non-veterans, 6.5% of whom fell into this category.
Veterans generally reported higher use of healthcare services, including hospital stays, visits to
GPs, and contact with social workers than non-veterans.
And they made more use of gambling support, substance and alcohol misuse treatment services.
They also had more brushes with the police, lost more working hours (33 vs 18), were in receipt of more benefits and had amassed larger debts than non-veterans (£1,375 vs £806).
The cost analysis revealed that veterans incurred substantially higher health, social care and societal costs than non-veterans of around £600 per person.
Professor Simon Dymond, from Swansea University, said differences were likely due to the impact of military service which is known to be associated with greater physical and mental health needs.
He added: “Our findings support an economic case for screening for gambling-related harm among UK veterans.
“The costs of routine post deployment and end of service screening are relatively low.
“However, while costs may increase for those identified with mental health conditions, there is an obvious trade-off in the costs saved from future healthcare resource use as well as criminal justice contact and accrued debt.”