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Unit on front line of helping war veterans
‘Military people are starting to talk about mental health’
WHEN your best friend and comrade is blown up by a roadside bomb in front of your eyes, the experience can haunt you for the rest of your life.
In some cases the survivor’s guilt never goes away – cannibalising every waking thought with recurring “what-if-I-had-done-this?” and “why-not-me?” questions.
Such traumatic experiences are not uncommon for members of the armed forces, affecting one in six soldiers returning from duty, but when it comes to coping with them, the help has not always been there. Civvies can’t understand and talking about problems with fellow soldiers is tantamount to desertion.
“The group psychology of the army has never been sympathetic to people with mental health problems,” says Dr Ian Palmer, a professor of military psychiatry and former army medical officer, who is running a Fitzrovia-based trauma centre for war veterans.
Now in the second year of a national pilot scheme, the centre, funded by the MoD through Camden and Islington Mental Health Trust is helping treat veterans with post traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions.
“There is a sort of code that soldiers don’t talk about their problems. It’s a macho culture and this is something we are trying to change. In the first and second world wars, the scale of the conflict and sense that the country was in it together meant people found the strength to cope. But war has changed and needs are different,” he said.
So far 42 veterans from a range of conflicts including the Falklands, Ireland and the two Gulf wars, have passed through the centre in Charlotte Street, referred through a GP, usually with a push from a family member.
In one case therapy meant returning to a soldier’s grave to say “sorry”, and the theme of being unable to save a friend rather than the horror of the memory itself is a familiar one.
Dr Palmer says it is typical for patients, the overwhelming majority of whom are male soldiers, to go 10 years before seeking help. If the politicians are to be believed, withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan are not far off, so will this mean a flood of soldiers in therapy? And it begs the question, what support existed before the centres?
“I don’t think we can say that for certain, but what this pilot has shown is that the need is definitely there. Don’t think there weren’t soldiers in therapy before. There has always been a drip, through normal routes.
“The hardest thing is get soldiers through the door. What we are trying to do is get a system in place so every GP asks the question: have you served in the armed forces? This would be a breakthrough. I think there is a sea change happening in the military where people are beginning to start to talk about mental health, but its slow and steady.”
Robert, who didn’t wish to give his full name, served 22 years in the Light Infantry Regiment. He is being treated at the clinic after a six-year battle with depression and alcoholism following “a horrific incident” in the Gulf.
“It’s easy within the forces to hide trauma. You just don’t talk about these things. That was the way it was. I coped by drinking and my whole world collapsed. This therapy opened a whole new world for me and has helped me come to terms with what I experienced.”
On Monday veterans’ minister Kevan Jones visited the centre. He said it was his job to ensure funding for a permanent service. “I am going to make sure this invaluable service remains in place. The need is clear and the work they do is so important. Anything we can do to make it easier for people to come forward and seek help is crucial,” he said.
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