British soldiers show rise in stress
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Military psychiatrists have warned of a sharp rise in the number of British troops returning from Iraq with severe mental illnesses, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.
Military psychiatrists have warned of a sharp rise in the number of British troops returning from Iraq with severe mental illnesses, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.
Soldiers in the Gulf are suffering from high stress levels because the war is so unpopular at home and they are unhappy about their role in Iraq, health experts have revealed. The country's leading charity for soldiers with mental illness, Combat Stress, claims this has meant far more soldiers are becoming ill with psychiatric problems than during the first Gulf War in 1991.
The last set of official figures revealed that in the 12 months since the start of the war in March 2003, more than 460 soldiers were treated for mental health problems. Of those, 52 soldiers were diagnosed as having post-traumatic stress disorder.
Combat Stress, which runs three residential centres for ex-soldiers with mental health problems, is already treating 16 men who have been discharged from the armed forces after serving in Iraq due to mental illness.
Captain Leigh Skelton, the charity's director of clinical services, told the IoS it was preparing for even more cases because soldiers were reacting badly to their peacekeeping duties. "We predict there will be a lot of casualties coming back with these doubts: 'We were there under false pretences, we shouldn't have been there in the first place, or I killed someone for no good reason'," he said.
The Ministry of Defence is expected to confirm this week that hundreds of soldiers have suffered from mental health problems over the past 18 months, including scores of troops suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Evidence that some troops are being affected by the rows over the legality and morality of the occupation surfaced after the deaths on Thursday of three soldiers from the Black Watch. Private Craig Lowe, whose brother Paul was one of the men killed, said he and his brother believed President George Bush went to war for oil and money. "They should just get the boys out of there now. If not, we're going to lose a lot more than this," he said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments