UK: More Afghanistan Veterans Than Iraq Veterans Have PTSD

Troops who served in Afghanistan ‘suffer more PTSD than Iraq veterans’
By WMN UK
DavidWells
Posted: July 30, 2015

Far more British troops who served in Afghanistan are seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than those who were deployed to Iraq, according to figures released by the Ministry of Defence.

For each separate deployment to Iraq, soldiers have a 40% increased risk of PTSD, but for those who went to Afghanistan there is a 270% risk, it said.

Dr Dominic Murphy, a clinical psychologist and head of research at veteran’s mental health charity Combat Stress, said the statistics were “surprising”.

“It could be because there is now more awareness and less stigma than ever before – we are also seeing a huge increase in veterans coming to us at Combat Stress with PTSD,” he said.

“In Afghanistan from 2005 onwards there was a big increase in the number of British fatalities, which could be seen as a measure of increased war fighting.

“Things got very difficult in Afghanistan, with more people getting injured or killed that could be one of the reasons why people are so badly affected now.”

Dr Murphy said he was also surprised at the fact that members of the armed forces are more likely to be assessed with a mental disorder than the general population of the UK.

The Army and Royal Marines had the highest proportion of personnel assessed with PTSD during the eight-year period, thought to be because both routinely deployed in large numbers to Iraq and Afghanistan.
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