Iraq veterans are denied help for combat trauma

British veterans being denied adequate care for PTSD

Iraq veterans are denied help for combat trauma


Mark Townsend, defence correspondent
Sunday February 3, 2008
The Observer


Hundreds of veterans, including many who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, are being denied vital help by the government to cope with the psychological fallout of war.
Despite ministerial pledges to improve support for British soldiers suffering mental health problems, veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are still not receiving funding for specialist medical treatment.

Combat Stress, a charity that assists veterans with mental health issues, is dealing with a 27 per cent increase in GP referrals of veterans - 1,200 new cases a year. Half of those reporting psychotic nightmares, depression and suicidal thoughts have not been granted a war pension and are, therefore, not eligible for specialist psychiatric help.

Robert Marsh, Combat Stress spokesman, said the Ministry of Defence was challenging hundreds of cases because of the difficulties in ascertaining whether the veterans' trauma was linked to their experiences of war.

'It can be difficult to convince [the MoD] because so much time has elapsed in many PTSD cases, but that is the nature of these illnesses,' Marsh said. 'We want to treat more unfunded veterans. The challenge is, who will pay for it?'

Although the charity is grateful for the government's 45 per cent funding increase, the number of veterans requiring help has significantly grown - but to qualify for the £245 a day treatment provided by Combat Stress psychiatrists, a veteran must have a war pension.

Last year the MoD announced that veterans would become eligible for fast-track treatment by the NHS, and introduced a national network of military psychiatrists in hospitals.

An MoD spokesman said: 'When a person is diagnosed with PTSD, we have to be certain that it is PTSD and that it is linked to their service. People become depressed for a number of reasons and it takes time to assess each case. If a link is proved, then they will receive a war pension.'

The debate comes as the University of Manchester undertakes a study into how many Iraq war and Afghanistan veterans have killed themselves. It expects to publish the results this spring. Official figures show that at least 23 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans had committed suicide from 2003 to the end of 2006. The number of reservists is not known. Two members of the Territorial Army who had fought in Iraq, Private Dave Forshaw and Private Peter Mahoney, were also known to have killed themselves.

There are fears that the number of suicides could eclipse the 33 British troops killed in the Iraq war itself. Falklands veterans' groups estimate that 300 men had committed suicide from the 1982 conflict compared with the 258 killed in action.

New data indicates that the suicide rate among US soldiers has reached its highest level since records began almost 30 years ago. Last year, 121 active members of the army took their own lives, up 20 per cent on the previous year.

An MoD spokesman said: 'Suicide is not endemic in the armed forces. There has been a clear downward trend over the past 20 years.'

Concern continues over the pressures upon the British armed forces of sustaining operations, particularly in Afghanistan. This week ministers will confirm that 16 Air Assault Brigade will be deployed once again to Helmand province later this year.

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