Understanding the needs of veterans seeking support for mental health difficulties

Murphy, Dominic; Busuttil, Walter

doi:10.1136/jramc-2019-001204

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The sample can be considered as representative of the treatment-seeking veteran population. However, as veterans may face a range of barriers in accessing mental health support, 26 there remains a lack of understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on veterans with pre-existing mental health difficulties who are not seeking support. Furthermore, it is also worth noting that despite limited differences between responders and non-responders, a potential response bias cannot be entirely ruled out.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal survey of UK veterans with pre-existing mental health difficulties: mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

et al. 2022

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IntroductionAt the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals with pre-existing mental health difficulties were thought to be vulnerable to mental health deterioration due to the emerging threat and the actions taken to control infection rates. Yet, there remained a paucity of research investigating changes in veteran well-being, a population facing higher rates of mental health difficulties compared with the general public. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the mental health and well-being of UK veterans with pre-existing mental health difficulties at two time points during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsUK treatment-seeking veterans (N=121) completed an online survey administered towards the end of the first UK lockdown in June 2020 and 1 year later. Data were gathered on sociodemographic characteristics as well as psychometric measures of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), common mental disorders (CMDs), anger difficulties and alcohol misuse.ResultsThe proportion of veterans meeting criteria of PTSD, anger and alcohol misuse remained similar across the two time points, while significantly fewer veterans met criteria for CMDs 1 year later. A notable proportion of the sample reported challenges in attending mental and physical health appointments, which was positively associated with not working and negatively associated with more COVID-19-related stressors.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that, to date, veterans with pre-existing mental health difficulties appear to demonstrate resilience as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed. However, as the pandemic continued, veterans faced significantly more COVID-19-related stressors, less social support, as well as difficulties attending health appointments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal survey of UK veterans with pre-existing mental health difficulties: mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

et al. 2022

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“…Second, the study had a low response rate (34.5%), and it is worth considering whether the present findings may be generalized to the wider population of veterans with preexisting mental health difficulties. Veterans face many barriers that prevent them from seeking support (e.g., Murphy & Busuttil, 2019; Rafferty et al., 2017), and those with higher levels of social support may be more inclined to use psychological support (Graziano & Elbogen, 2017). Veterans with lower levels of social support, who appear to be particularly vulnerable to mental health deterioration during the COVID‐19 pandemic, may have been underrepresented in the present study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on treatment‐seeking veterans in the United Kingdom with preexisting mental health difficulties: A longitudinal study

Hendrikx

Williamson

Baumann

et al. 2021

Journal of Traumatic Stress

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Individuals with preexisting psychological difficulties are at risk of further deterioration of their mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. This longitudinal study, conducted during the period between two national lockdowns, aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on veterans in the United Kingdom with preexisting mental health difficulties. Treatment-seeking veterans with preexisting mental health difficulties (N = 95) were surveyed in two waves. Wave 1 was conducted at the end of the first lockdown (June 2020-July 2020), and Wave 2 took place during the second lockdown (November 2020).Participants completed measures to assess symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); common mental health difficulties (CMDs), including anxiety and depression; anger; and alcohol use. Initial analyses revealed no significant changes in symptoms of PTSD, CMDs, anger, or alcohol use between the lockdowns, ps = .247-.986. However, veterans who experienced more COVID-19related stressors were more likely to experience increases in PTSD, odds ratio (OR) = 6.30, p = .002, and CMD symptoms, OR = 4.32, p = .025. Participants 330

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“…Veterans are assumed to be reluctant to seek health and social care support, 7 yet these findings suggest our veteran sample was largely treatment-seeking. 32 The differences we found in healthcare resource utilisation and costs between veterans and non-veterans are likely to indicate an imbalance mediated by *Details of over-the-counter medications were not collected. Any over-the-counter medications reported by participants were excluded from analysis.…”

Section: Original Researchmentioning

confidence: 92%

Social and economic costs of gambling problems and related harm among UK military veterans

et al. 2021

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IntroductionMilitary veterans are at heightened risk of problem gambling. Little is known about the costs of problem gambling and related harm among United Kingdom (UK) Armed Forces (AF) veterans. We investigated the social and economic costs of gambling among a large sample of veterans through differences in healthcare and social service resource use compared with age-matched and gender-matched non-veterans from the UK AF Veterans’ Health and Gambling Study.MethodsAn online survey measured sociodemographic characteristics, gambling experience and problem severity, mental health and healthcare resource utilisation. Healthcare provider, personal social service and societal costs were estimated as total adjusted mean costs and utility, with cost-consequence analysis of a single timepoint.ResultsVeterans in our sample had higher healthcare, social service and societal costs and lower utility. Veterans had greater contacts with the criminal justice system, received more social service benefits, had more lost work hours and greater accrued debt. A cost difference of £590 (95% CI −£1016 to −£163) was evident between veterans with scores indicating problem gambling and those reporting no problems. Costs varied by problem gambling status.ConclusionsOur sample of UK AF veterans has higher healthcare, social service and societal costs than non-veterans. Veterans experiencing problem gambling are more costly but have no reduction in quality of life.

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Understanding the needs of veterans seeking support for mental health difficulties

Cited by 17 publications

References 35 publications

Longitudinal survey of UK veterans with pre-existing mental health difficulties: mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Longitudinal survey of UK veterans with pre-existing mental health difficulties: mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on treatment‐seeking veterans in the United Kingdom with preexisting mental health difficulties: A longitudinal study

Social and economic costs of gambling problems and related harm among UK military veterans

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