The country faces a “potential mental health timebomb” when veterans return to civilian life, shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox has warned. Representatives from the three main parties took part in a defence debate before an invited audience at the National Army Museum in London on Tuesday evening. Mr Fox said the fact more veterans of [...]
Combat Stress appeal: Veterans found to be at risk of alcoholism and suicide
Almost a fifth of service personnel have drinking problems while young soldiers who leave the armed forces are three times more likely to kill themselves than civilians, academic studies show. Read the full article here
The mental scars of soldiers
Last week in the US an army sergeant was accused of waterboarding his own four-year-old daughter after she refused to recite her ABCs. This story emerged as London’s Guardian newspaper reported that during a time of critical stress for military hospitals, there was little concrete information about soldiers’ mental health. Read the full article here
Suicide Risk Rises For Young War Veterans
Young soldiers returning from afghanistan are up to three times more likely to kill themselves than civilians of the same age, according to the mental health foundation. Read the full article here
Wives of deployed soldiers more likely to be depressed
London: A new study has revealed that wives of soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are more likely to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and other mental health conditions than women whose husbands are not deployed. Read the full article here
Homecomings fit for heroes? The plight of Britain’s veterans
The sombre procession of six coffins, draped in Union flags, along the streets of Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire on Tuesday was yet another reminder of the human cost of the war in Afghanistan. Each contained the body of a British soldier killed there the previous week Read the full article here
Returning U.K. Soldiers Suffer from Depression, Turn to Alcohol
Research conducted by psychiatrists in Britain has revealed that members of the country’s armed forces returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan commonly suffer from depression, with many turning to alcohol for relief. Read the full article here
Returning troops hit by alcohol abuse, depression
LONDON (Reuters) – Alcohol abuse and depression are common among British troops returning from conflict deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan but post traumatic stress is less of a problem than previously thought, researchers said on Friday Read the full article here
Revealed: the hidden army in UK prisons
The number of former servicemen in prison or on probation or parole is now more than double the total British deployment in Afghanistan, according to a new survey. An estimated 20,000 veterans are in the criminal justice system, with 8,500 behind bars, almost one in 10 of the prison population. Read the full article here
Afghanistan’s hidden toll: Troops invalided out triple in three years
An article about the effect that the conflict in Afghanistan is having on troops mental health Read the full article here
