The UK Armed Forces – past, present and future
13 December 2010
Occurrence of mental health problems amongst Army personnel can only be reduced or better managed, but never eliminated. These are the findings of a paper published today, which also stresses the need for further research to gauge why some Service personnel suffer whilst others don’t.
Scientists from the King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) examined the historical and contemporary evidence to explain the inconsistencies in rates of psychological injuries. They also provide an insight into some of the ways that the UK Armed Forces attempt to mitigate the effects of operations upon personnel's mental health.
Researchers found that the UK Armed Forces employ tactics to equip personnel with better coping methods such as; third location decompression (TLD), which means the troops spend 24 – 36 hours in a neutral space to ‘unwind’ together and trauma risk management (TRiM) which provides personnel with the skills to monitor how other troops are coping.
A comparison study between UK and US Armed Forces proved that US personnel suffered higher rates of psychological ill health, presumably because US personnel are deployed for longer and more frequently.
Despite these measures, it’s believed that personnel who come from socially deprived backgrounds are more likely to suffer further down the line while events during deployment, such as being shot at, will also contribute to the variance.
Neil Greenberg, Professor in Military Psychiatry, KCMHR, said: 'The mental health needs of the UK Armed Forces are an important topic which is often the focus of media and political debate. This article provides an overview of the topic from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Importantly the article highlights some of the recent innovations that the UK military have introduced which are aimed at supporting the psychological health of troops and provides an overview of the wealth of research that had recently been carried out by King's College London in support of our military personnel.'
Professor Simon Wessely, Director of the KCMHR, said: 'If one simply followed the media reporting, especially the recent surge of "drama documentaries", one might be forgiven for thinking that there is an epidemic of mental health disorders in the British Armed Forces, and that almost everyone who has served in either Iraq or Afghanistan is likely to end up mentally ill, homeless or in prison. The real research, reviewed in this paper, suggests is not so. The rates of mental ill health have proven remarkably stable since 2003, generally better than the UK population as a whole, with the exception of alcohol misuse, which has been increasing. True, those who do have mental health problems continue to find it difficult to get help, but again, this is part of a much wider problem across society. And again, contrary to some views, the Armed Forces are aware of the mental health risks of modern warfare, and do take the issues seriously, even if simple solutions are not always available.'
The paper is published today in a special issue of ‘Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B’ which highlights recent advances in military casualty care.
The Royal Society is the UK’s national academy of science. Founded in 1660, the Society has three roles; as a provider of independent scientific advice; as a learned Society; and as a funding agency. The Royal Society’s expertise is embodied in the Fellowship, which is made up of the finest scientists from the UK and beyond. Their goals are to; invest in future scientific leaders and in innovation; influence policymaking with the best scientific advice; invigorate science and mathematics education; increase access to the best science internationally; inspire an interest in the joy, wonder and excitement of scientific discovery.
To read the paper in full, please follow the link