Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 01 March 2022
An estimated 5 million veterans live in the UK at present, and a further 20,000 personnel leave the armed forces every year. When they leave, their healthcare automatically transfers from the military to the national health service. According to figures from HM forces, only around 0.1 per cent of regular service personnel are discharged annually for mental health reasons. Sadly, however, many veterans develop mental health problems after leaving the service. Many experience post-traumatic stress disorder.
Of course, ex-military personnel experience many of the same mental health problems as the general population, although their experiences during service and the transition to civilian life mean that their mental health may be adversely affected by factors such as PTSD, depression and anxiety. Tragically, only half of those who experienced mental health problems sought help from the NHS—and those who did so were rarely referred to specialist mental health services. Worryingly, levels of alcohol misuse, overall, were substantially higher than in the general population.
Veterans’ mental health problems may be made worse or caused by post-service factors such as difficulties in making the transition to civilian life or marital problems and the associated loss of family and social support networks.
Young veterans are at a high risk of suicide in the first two years after leaving the service and are vulnerable to social exclusion and homelessness, both of which we know to be risk factors for mental ill health.