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‘Goodbye and good luck’: the mental health needs and treatment experiences of British ex-service personnel

King's Centre for Military Health Research, Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, King's College London, UK

CLAIRE DYSON, MSc, NAOMI SMITH, BA, NEIL GREENBERG, MRCPsych, REBECCA WALWYN, MSc, CATHERINE UNWIN, MSc, LISA HULL, BSc, MATTHEW HOTOPF, PhD, CHRISTOPHER DANDEKER, PhD, JOHN ROSS, BA and SIMON WESSELY, FRCP

King's Centre for Military Health Research, Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, King's College London, UK

Correspondence: Dr Amy Iversen, Department of Psychological Medicine, Weston Education Centre, Cutcombe Road, London SE5 9RJ, UK. Tel: +44 (0)20 7848 0796; fax: +44 (0)20 7848 0408; e-mail: A.Iversen{at}iop.kcl.ac.uk

Declaration of interest S.W. is Honorary Civilian Advisor in Psychiatry (unpaid) to the British Army Medical Services. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

Background Little is known about the psychological health or treatment experiences of those who have left the British armed forces.

Aims To describe the frequency and associations of common mental disorders and help-seeking behaviours in a representative sample of UK veterans at high risk of mental health problems.

Method A cross-sectional telephone survey of 496 ‘vulnerable’ ex-service personnel selected from an existing epidemiological military cohort.

Results The response rate was 64%; 44% of these had a psychiatric diagnosis, most commonly depression. Those with a diagnosis were more likely to be of lower rank and divorced or separated. Just over half of those with self-reported mental health problems were currently seeking help, most from their general practitioners. Most help-seekers received treatment, usually medication; 28% were in touch with a service charity and 4% were receiving cognitive-behavioural therapy.

Conclusions Depression is more common than post-traumatic stress disorder in UK ex-service personnel. Only about half of those who have a diagnosis are seeking help currently, and few see specialists.

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