Pstd in uk troops - fear & wesseley

[Marco]

UK Troops returning from Afghanistan were surveyed by Kings College, London.

Key points :

Prevalence rates of PTSD (and other mental illnesses) in returning troops much lower than publicly perceived;

Binge drinking in returning troops is a greater problem;

Prevalence rates of PTSD in UK troops much lower than US troops (suggested that the benefits regime in US leads to over-reporting of PTSD);

Advice to the new UK government - less attention should be paid to PTSD and other mental illnesses and more on unhealthy drinking.

According to Dr Nicola Fear and Professor Simon Wessely, King's College, London.



http://www.news.pushpi.com/tag/dr-nicola-fear

 

[Tammie]

hmmmm, maybe the reason it is less reported in the UK and people resort to drinking to cope instead of trying to get therapy or other help is bc of how utterly useless Wessely, et al are in their treatments & how completely they denegrate peopel with all sorts of issues....it's pretty bad when alcohlism is better than the recommened treatment!

 

[Marco]

The timing is interesting.

This appears on the Lancet Website as an 'early online publication'.

As we all know, scientific/medical articles go through a long period of preparation and peer review before publication, making the exact date of publication difficult to determine.

Yet within days of a new administration being formed and less than a week since it was likely that the government would change, this paper appears with advice for the new government.

 

[flybro]

I don't know how things are now but back in the late 60's and 70's my father a para, and his mates were all heavy drinkers, I dare say today they would be called binge drinkers, because they weren't alcoholics and they only drank when they went out, most week ends if at home.

Is it the war that creates this or is it part of the bonding that takes place amongst the various platoons and companies.

Through most of the eighties and early ninties, I noticed the grenedier gaurds have the same bonding process.

The guys go out together and get totally slaughtered, oblitereated, and put there trust totally in eachothers hands, they bare there souls and often their arses.

As I said I don't know what it's like these days, but back then it seemed to be part a mandotory team building exercise.

When a soldier goes back into civvy street and gets slaughterd his mates are to scared to control him, or simply can't. Is this when the binge drinking becomes a problem?

or does Wessley beleive he has found a convenient way of getting the UK MOD of the hook for GulfWarSyndrome and PTSD by blaming the soldier for his personal drinking problem.

 

[jace]

I guess it's the last option, Flybro :Retro mad:

 

[Sunday]

Yah, me too. And I know what you mean about the binge drinking: I've known Vietnam vets who were like that. We don't really have a way to integrate what happens to people in war into our culture. I think part of it is that governments would prefer that we focus on the glory of war and ignore the horrible consequences. I've often wondered how people of my father's generation, the WWII vets, deal with it; they were supposed to just forget it all and be happy to be home and get on with life as usual. But how could life ever be usual after war?

And just what the HELL do these people think binge-drinking is about, but obliterating feelings you can't bear?

(see, I'm a former binge-drinker, too. I might not have the experience of returning vets, but I know what binge-drinking's about.)

 

[flybro]

Many of the guys I knew never went to war.

most of them didn't see and experience the horrors of war.

Going out and getting slaughtered with yr mates was standard. Not getting slaughtered, and not being able to handle drink, or simply not drinking would set you apart from the team. Not being pervieced as a team player in the military is most definatly substandard.

On the other hand my grandfathers who did see and experience horrific war, were not drinkers.

I dont think the drinking is about the horrors of war, I think its about feeling like an outsider amongst the civlian population, because in the military if you got slaughtered yr mates would knock you out if you got obnoxious, and make sure you were on your feet ready for inspection on time.

In civi street, that which is normal and neccasrry for the functioning of the a military unit , is a sign of not coping and having mental health problems.

Once a warrior always a warrior, there is nothing in civvi street that can compare to the sense of brotherhood that developes amongst the guys.

I wonder wether the getting slaughtered is more about obliterating the intense self-control, or even prooving that you've got the guts to 'let go'.