Topics: Mental Health
"During the 3 month period April - June 2008, 782 new cases of mental disorder were identified within UK Armed Forces personnel." (Source: MOD website)
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We live in a dangerous world
Since returning from the front line in Afghanistan Martin Lindley has been suffering from paranoia.
He's ready for anything
Danny McAneany suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. His girlfriend Jools has effectively become his carer.
I was seeing my kids as Arabs
Peter Doolan has been diagnosed with severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. For him, the worst symptoms are his flashbacks.
I think there's stuff crawling on me
Despite being diagnosed with severe PTSD Peter tries to lead as normal a life as possible.
Suppressed scream
Jason Wilkinson, a colour sergeant with the Kings Regiment, committed suicide in January this year. His parents describe what he went through in the weeks before his death.
Mental Health
MOD funded research concluded that only 4% of army personnel suffer from Post Traumatic Stress. The figure was taken from a sample of regular soldiers who have served in Iraq since 2003. However Combat Stress, the leading charity which helps veterans with mental health problems, says that the average time for post traumatic stress to surface is 14 years.
Mental health: research and facts
Combat Stress is a Third Sector charity which was set up in 1919 after the First World War by wives and mothers who were concerned about the mental welfare of their loved ones who had returned from the trenches. It functioned for many years as a service providing residential respite care for mentally ill veterans. Over the past five years or so radical changes have been taking place which have enabled Combat Stress to start to deliver modern psychiatric treatment for those suffering from mental disorders generated by conflicts. Their Medical Director Walter Busuttil discusses the mental health issues associated with military service. Read more ...
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