Call for more to be done for military veterans
The Mental Health Foundation has called for more to be done to look after the mental health of military veterans. Although the Mental Health Foundation welcomes recent initiatives to expand the mental health support available to veterans, it believes that support services remain patchy and that several critical factors still need to be addressed.
Resettlement packages for veterans returning to civilian life should be based on need, not just length of service, says the charity. Veterans under the age of 24 are at two to three times the risk of suicide than civilians of the same age. Despite this, the full resettlement package for former forces personnel is only available after four years service.
More research into what prevents veterans from returning to civilian life successfully is needed. Given that around half of veterans in prison are suffering from post-traumatic stress or depression, it is clear that more needs to be done to help veterans stay well and out of trouble, says the Foundation.
Simon Lawton-Smith, Head of Policy for the Foundation, said: "While most members of the forces rejoin civilian life successfully, a significant number will struggle. There have been recent initiatives to improve the help offered to these veterans, but these are not widely available and we feel its particularly urgent that the support available to young veterans, those with alcohol misuse problems and those at risk of offending are improved. “We can’t carry on with a situation where young veterans are twice as likely to take their own life than their contemporaries and prisons are full of veterans suffering from depression and PTSD."
The Mental health Foundation's briefing can be downloaded here.
Source: Mental Health Foundation