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Edgar Jones

Professor Edgar Jones

Professor in the History of Medicine & Psychiatry

Research interests

  • Psychology

Biography

Edgar Jones is an authority on the psychological effects of modern war and conflict. He has studied both conventional armed forces and terrorism, exploring how individuals cope during periods of intense stress and the impact of traumatic experiences on their wellbeing. More recently he has researched moral injury, an enduring belief of being wronged or having been compelled to act in ways that feel wrong, in servicemen and women. Edgar Jones has also published on risk factors for radicalisation and support of political violence. He has written extensively on shell shock, post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic multi-symptom illness suffered as a result of military service. The author of a number of reports for government and military or mental health charities, his work seeks to shape policy and practice.

Edgar Jones originally studied history, researching a doctorate at Nuffield College, Oxford. He subsequently joined the department of psychiatry at Guy's Hospital where he completed a doctorate in clinical psychopathology and trained as a psychodynamic psychotherapist. Having previously taught at University College London and been a senior research fellow at the LSE, Edgar Jones joined the Institute of Psychiatry in January 1998. He was awarded the Gideon de Laune Gold Medal by the Faculty of the History and Philosophy of Medicine, Society of Apothecaries in 2007, and received a President’s Medal for a significant contribution to improving the lives of people with mental illness from the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2015.

Research Interests

  • Military psychology and psychiatry as applied to combat
  • The psychological dimensions of terrorism
  • Moral injury

Teaching

Expertise & Public Engagement

  • Handling editor and member of editorial board of the British Journal of Psychiatry
  • Member of the the MQ/The Lancet Psychiatry Standing Commission on the COVID-19 Pandemic and Mental Health
  • Regular contributor to television documentaries on the psychology of war and conflict

    Research

    pexels-imprensa-agruban®-10501127
    King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR)

    The King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR), King’s College London, is the leading civilian UK centre of excellence for military health research.

    News

    Veterans Mental Health Conference 2022

    The King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCHMR), the leading civilian centre of excellence for military health research in the UK, presented the 2022...

    women soldiers 780x440

    Comparing the psychological response during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Blitz

    Drawing parallels between the current COVID-19 pandemic and the aerial bombings during World War 2 (WW2) could provide informative insight into the...

    comparing psychological response COVID-19 pandemic Blitz

    Features

    IoPPN Research Festival 2024 'Origins and new beginnings'

    The 2024 IoPPN Research Festival covered the theme ‘Origins and New Beginnings.’

    Rainbow Origami Cranes From Origin to End

      Research

      pexels-imprensa-agruban®-10501127
      King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR)

      The King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR), King’s College London, is the leading civilian UK centre of excellence for military health research.

      News

      Veterans Mental Health Conference 2022

      The King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCHMR), the leading civilian centre of excellence for military health research in the UK, presented the 2022...

      women soldiers 780x440

      Comparing the psychological response during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Blitz

      Drawing parallels between the current COVID-19 pandemic and the aerial bombings during World War 2 (WW2) could provide informative insight into the...

      comparing psychological response COVID-19 pandemic Blitz

      Features

      IoPPN Research Festival 2024 'Origins and new beginnings'

      The 2024 IoPPN Research Festival covered the theme ‘Origins and New Beginnings.’

      Rainbow Origami Cranes From Origin to End