Public fear over mental health of veterans is ‘false and damaging’

VETERANS leaving the Armed Forces are being hindered by a false and misguided view that most are suffering from a serious mental health or physical problem, research reveals today.

The public are sympathetic to servicemen and women returning to civvy street, but more than half think they are more likely than most to commit suicide, be addicted to alcohol or get divorced.

Almost four in five people believe the ordeals suffered by veterans mean they are ‘somewhat’ or ‘much’ more likely to have mental health problems than other people.

The research was carried out by Lord Ashcroft, the Prime Minister’s special representative on helping veterans returning to civilian life, to establish how the public view former service personnel. Data was collected from an online survey of around 2,000 adults and eight focus groups across the country in June this year.

Lord Ashcroft, in an article for the Daily Mail below, says the results show a ‘staggering gap between public perceptions and reality’ and that veterans are far more able to cope and have fewer issues than the public expect. He added that the false idea that those who have served are likely to be damaged creates an unnecessary extra hurdle to returning to the civilian world.

Half of those questioned thought negative experiences of being in the military would play as big a part as positive ones in shaping veterans’ lives as civilians.

On average they estimated that almost two thirds of service leavers would have experienced dangerous or traumatic situations. Questioned about veterans of working age, respondents associated them with words including ‘able, admirable, heroes and bravery’. However, they also used words such as ‘abandoned, mentally damaged, disadvantaged and unemployed’.

The most common problems believed to be faced by service leavers were mental health, adjustment to civilian life and physical injuries or physical health problems.

Civilians were positive about employing someone leaving the Armed Forces but concerned about mental health issues, posttraumatic stress disorder and ‘anger issues’.

Documentaries and TV news were the two most important sources the impressions were based on. Films were also a factor.