Help-seeking and receipt of treatment among UK service personnel

Abstract

BackgroundFor armed forces personnel, data on help-seeking behaviour and receipt of treatment for mental disorders are important for both research and policy.AimsTo examine mental healthcare service use and receipt of treatment in a sample of the UK military.MethodParticipants were drawn from an existing UK military health cohort. The sample was stratified by reserve status and by participation in the main war-fighting period of the Iraq War. Participants completed a telephone-based structured diagnostic interview comprising the Patient Health Questionnaire and Primary Care Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Screen (PC–PTSD), and a series of questions about service utilisation and treatment receipt.ResultsOnly 23% of those with common mental disorders and still serving in the military were receiving any form of medical professional help. Non-medical sources of help such as chaplains were more widely used. Among regular personnel in receipt of professional help, most were seen in primary care (79%) and the most common treatment was medication or counselling/psychotherapy. Few regular personnel were receiving cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT). These findings are comparable with those reported for the general population.ConclusionsIn the UK armed forces, the majority of those with mental disorders are not currently seeking medical help for their symptoms. Further work to understand barriers to care is important and timely given that this is a group at risk of occupational psychiatric injury.

Occurrence of delayed-onset post-traumatic stress disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies

“…And some data indicate that military personnel are at higher risk of developing PTSD after a latent period with few symptoms than persons in other settings (72). Soldiers and other hierarchical professional groups may be reluctant to report symptoms until they become severe because of their fears of a negative impact on career and/or negative responses from their peers (72).…”

UK extended Medical Assessment Programme for ex-service personnel: the first 150 individuals seen

“…20 The average time from leaving service to MAP attendance was 12 years, similar to civilians. 49 Engagement with service was hampered for some by real or imagined guilt or shame at acts of omission or commission and remembrance of dead comrades.…”

“…14,15,20 Unlike the self-selecting MAP cohort, these studies have the benefit of being random samples on defined cohorts. Where there are data from the King's 2005 study 14 they are included for interest and comparison in the tables.…”

Exploring Patterns in Referrals to Combat Stress for Uk Veterans with Mental Health Difficulties between 1994 and 2014

“…However, analyses comparing still serving military personnel and the general working population observed that military personnel were twice as likely to report common mental health difficulties (Goodwin et al, 2015). Further, veterans have been shown to have experienced higher levels of both childhood adversity and trauma in adulthood than nonveterans (Woodhead et al, 2011 • This is the first study of its kind in the UK to explore referral patterns for mental health difficulties in UK veterans at a national level • Over the last 20 years there has been nearly a fourfold increase in the numbers of veterans seeking support from a UK national mental health charity • In recent years the sharpest increase in demand has come from veterans who had deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan • Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are seeking help sooner than their colleagues who had deployed to previous conflicts personnel, less is known about the rates of help-seeking for mental health difficulties within veteran populations Iversen et al, 2010). Differences in prevalence rates of mental health difficulties between help-seeking veterans and the wider veteran population have been noted.…”