Mental illness is a top priority, says Ministry of Defence
THE Ministry of Defence has told The Herald that mental illness among servicemen and women is an issue it took 'very seriously'.
All medical officers and nurses were trained to recognise the signs of mental illness and officers, junior NCOs and senior NCOs were routinely trained in methods of suicide prevention and stress management.
Service personnel received training to increase awareness of mental health issues and stress management throughout their careers, and particularly prior to and after deployment.
As part of this, families of personnel returning from deployment were also offered presentations and issued with leaflets to alert them to the possible after-affects of an operational deployment.
Increasing use was also being made of Trauma Risk Management (TRiM), a model of peer-group mentoring and support for use in the aftermath of traumatic events. Pioneered by the Royal Marines more than 10 years ago, it was previously used in Iraq. The MoD also provided outpatient care with community- based mental health care through its 15 military Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMH) across the UK.
In-patient mental health care for the armed forces was delivered regionally by specialised psychiatric units under a contract from the MoD.
Comments
by Hermes (and Thelemia), Plymouth
Monday, August 17 2009, 8:47PM
“Understandably, professional careers in the security and emergency services, with their associated periods of intensive training and assessment, along with pressures during active and non-active service, coupled with additional commitments naturally involved with child-caring and family time, can sometimes cause temporary difficulties and behavioural patterns. These often require help and friendship in order to discover a path to a healthy recovery.”