Rates of post-trauma stress rise in British military veterans

War and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan may have led to an increase in rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to new research looking at the mental health of Britain’s soldiers.

 

“In previous phases of the study, rates of probable PTSD in our military sample were broadly similar to the general population, but the rates now appear to have risen,” said Nicola Fear, a professor at the IoPPN who co-led the work.

 

Also, Simon Wessely, a professor of psychiatry at King’s, said the results “suggest the risk of mental ill health is carried by those who have left the service, and that part of the legacy of conflicts on mental health has taken time to reveal itself”.

 

“We know that more people are accessing services and more people are getting help,” he said. “So that’s good news.”