Prevalence and severity of mental disorders in military personnel: a standardised comparison with civilians

Abstract

Rates and severity of mental disorders in the German military are comparable with civilians for internalising and lower for substance use disorders. A higher risk of some disorders is reduced to DS with high combat exposure. This finding has implications for mental health service provision and the need for targeted interventions. Differences to previous US and UK studies that suggest an overall higher prevalence in military personnel might result from divergent study methods, deployment characteristics, military structures and occupational factors. Some of these factors might yield valuable targets to improve military mental health.

Comparison of characteristics and outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention in military and non-military men

“…The higher prevalence of hypertension and younger age in military men could be attributed to greater health screening in military personnel than general population leading to earlier diagnosis of CAD and hypertension. On the other hand, psychiatric disorders, such as mental stress, are also important in pathogenesis of CAD14 and military personnel have one of the highest levels of job stress among all jobs 15. This high job stress could explain the lower age and higher prevalence of hypertension in military men of this study 16.…”

Biological stress indicators as risk markers for increased alcohol use following traumatic experiences

“…Besides missing information for women, PTSD symptoms were relatively low given the considerable trauma exposure. This indicates a high proportion of resilient individuals which has been observed for the German military in general (Trautmann et al ). Hence, future studies should replicate the presented findings in more unselected populations.…”

European military mental health research: benefits of collaboration

“…Investigating and reporting the prevalence of key mental disorders is a fundamental common endeavour of Britain's6 as well as Germany's7 military mental health research. This research takes a broader perspective than examining the influence of deployment on mental health alone, which was a key research question explored in British studies performed by KCMHR with respect to the 1991 Gulf, Iraq and the recent Afghanistan conflicts 1 8 9.…”