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| Britain | |
| 'Nervous breakdown' discharges up by 30% among UK armed forces | |
| 2008-10-19 | |
| The number of British military personnel discharged from the armed forces following a 'nervous breakdown' has risen by 30 per cent since the start of the Afghan war. More than 1,300 have been medically discharged since 2001 when operations first began against the Taliban, new figures reveal. Of these, 770 belong to the army, which has borne the brunt of overseas operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the greatest increase in those leaving the military because of 'mental and behavioural disorders' belongs to the air force, with cases more than doubling from 20 in 2001 to 50 last year. By comparison, 115 left the army last year, only slightly up on the 105 discharged seven years ago. The rising numbers of service personnel leaving for psychological reasons will fuel concerns that thousands of soldiers face being traumatised by their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. Health charities claim that as many as one in 10 soldiers will develop a mental health problem from the horrors of combat. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'The MoD recognises mental illness as a serious condition, but one that can be treated. Robust systems are in place to diagnose and treat mental illness.'
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #7 concerns that thousands of soldiers face being traumatised by their experiences in Iraq what about the ones who are being traumatized by their experiences since arriving home? |
| Posted by: Abu do you love 2008-10-19 22:52 |
| #6 There's a large article in my local fishwrap this morning about five soldiers that have committed murder since returning from combat deployments overseas. While I'm sure their deployment had something to do with their behavior, I wonder how much more could be blamed on the twisted society in the United States that they come from. A couple of the people arrested were probably not the best people to trust with weapons to begin with, but some of their behavior defies an easy explanation. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-10-19 14:07 |
| #5 Thanks, Pappy, I am sure good work is being done.When my son comes to RLI Reunions and meets my old buddies, all he says is, 'You're all the same!' What I meant was, it's too easy to leave the Brit Army these days, if you find you don't like it, no commitment. BTW, I still owe you a drink at the O Club from some years ago. |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2008-10-19 12:17 |
| #4 The Misguided Children and Navy medicine have been working on it. We've a pilot program that deals with returning combat tours. Lots of first hand experience with what happpens post-deployment. It's working. It's kept the suicide rate down. rhodesiafever - it's historically been called 'battle fatigue' and a host of other terms. There's documented cases going back to the U.S. Civil War. It occurs sometimes immediately after the instigating event(s), but it also can manifest itself years later. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2008-10-19 11:55 |
| #3 All of the above, even in peacetime. Don't know, never heard of that PTSD in Rhodesia, maybe manifests itself years later. |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2008-10-19 11:24 |
| #2 Curious that the largest group affected is the air force. I would have expected grunts on the ground to be more stressed. Maybe the fly guys have more time to sit around thinking about their home country going to hell in a handbasket while they themselves are in a war zone. Or is the British air force undergoing Royal Navy-like budget cuts that affect maintenance? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2008-10-19 09:25 |
| #1 Doesn't appear to Steve, they're just thrown into the NHS over there. As much as our VA gets hammered, they at least get 'focus' when stuff drops and it becomes public. Over there, when its dumped into a system that 'dropped' is SOP, then they're screwed. In the bright socialist future for us all, you can probably bet on the same thing evolving here. Change you can count on. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-10-19 08:50 |