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Nearly 4,000 new cases of mental illness among UK troops last year

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Nov 5, IRNA
UK-Defence
Almost 4,000 new cases of mental illness were diagnosed among the UK's armed forces last year, with those returning from Iraq or Afghanistan the most likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

According to new mental health statistics released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), soldiers were more likely than members of the air force or navy to have mental problems, and women and "other ranks" were more at risk than their male counterparts or officers.

The figures put the rate at 4.7 per 1,000 among troops deployed in Iraq and at 3.8 per 1,000 among their counterparts deployed in Afghanistan. But the highest rate was 8.2 per 1,000 among women service personnel, more than twice the rate of males.

The increasing cases of mental conditions suffered by troops in Iraq caused the government to launch enhanced programs of treatment some two years ago.

Chris Williams, director of the medical finance secretariat in the defence medical services department, insisted that PTSD remained a "rare" condition which had affected just 43 people during the last three months of 2007, 38 of whom had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It does not surprise me that if you serve in Iraq or Afghanistan you are more likely than others to suffer from PTSD," Williams was quoted saying by the Guardian newspaper Wednesday.

The figures from the defence analytical services agency, an MoD agency, showed 868 personnel were diagnosed with a mental disorder in the last three months of 2007.

In its report, the agency warned that the statistics should be read with caution, partly because they cannot be compared to previous years' figures as the MoD has changed the way it collates them.

"They do not cover the full picture of all mental disorders in the UK armed forces," it said. "Personnel may have been seen in primary care who did not require, or who did not wish, onward referral to the departments of community mental health."
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