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March 17th, 2013 
* One charity expects a rise of up to 12 per cent in the number of cases of
PTSD each year until at least 2018.
Last year, 2,550 soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines were treated for mental
health issues, taking the total diagnosed since 2007 to 11,000 – a
significant proportion of the 177,000 serving personnel.
Of those diagnosed last year, 176 were treated for psychoactive substance
abuse including alcohol abuse; there were 1,662 cases of neurotic disorders,
including 273 reports of PTSD; 547 cases of mood disorders, including
depression and 167 cases of other mental and behavioural disorders.
The rate of PTSD cases also “significantly increased” between 2010-11 and
2011-12, according to figures released by Defence Analytical Services and
Advice, the MoD department that monitors mental heath issues.
The MoD has said it has worked hard to improve care for personnel with mental
illness and introduced programmes to try to minimise post-traumatic stress.
One measure is having soldiers “decompress” in Cyprus for up to two weeks
after returning from tours of Afghanistan, to allow them to adjust to life
away from the combat zone with their comrades.
It is now accepted that all those who experience combat will suffer from some
form of stress and every unit has trained personnel who try to identify and
help those showing signs of trauma.
But charities said the new figures did not take account of the substantial
number who suffered mental illness after leaving the Services.
Combat Stress, the leading mental health charity for former Forces personnel,
believes there are at least 10,000 veterans living with mental conditions
who need urgent help. It fears that redundancies in the Forces, with 20,000
expected to lose their jobs over the next two years, will put more people at
risk of mental illness without access to the military’s internal support
network.
Commodore Andrew Cameron, the charity’s chief executive, said: “This is not an
issue which is going to go away. We have exposed a lot of young men to a lot
of quite horrendous trauma in Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s no good saying,
‘We’re worried about it’, we have to get on and deal with it.”
He added: “We see about 1,500 new people each year and that is going up by
10-12 per cent each year. It is quite high. The lives of those people who
come to us are pretty much falling apart.”
The charity said that the symptoms of PTSD could take years to emerge, with
many Falklands veterans only being diagnosed after more than a decade. There
have also been claims – disputed by the MoD – that the death toll from
suicides now exceeds the 253 who died in combat in the 1982 conflict.
Since 2003, 123 British troops have died of suspected or confirmed suicide
while serving in the Armed Forces, compared with 619 recorded as dying in
Iraq and Afghanistan from all causes, including combat wounds, accidents,
suicide and natural causes. Some soldiers, such as Lance Sergeant Dan
Collins, 29, who survived being shot in the back and two bomb blasts in
Helmand, have taken their own lives after returning from Afghanistan.
An MoD spokesman said: “Every year around 24,000 personnel leave the Armed
Forces. Most people do this successfully but for some this can be daunting,
so we have worked hard to ensure our Services personnel get the support and
mental health care they need, including those going through the redundancy
process.”
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