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Do serving and ex-serving personnel of the UK armed forces seek help for perceived stress, emotional or mental health problems?

ABSTRACT: Background: UK armed forces personnel are at risk of occupational psychological injury; they are often reluctant to seek help for such problems. Objective: We aimed to examine and describe sources of support, prevalence and associates of help-seeking among UK serving and ex-serving personnel. Method: A total of 1450 participants who self-reported a stress, emotional or mental health problem in the past 3 years were sampled from a health and wellbeing study and subsequently completed a telephone interview comprising measures of mental disorder symptoms, alcohol misuse and help-seeking behaviour. Results: Seven per cent of participants had not sought any help, 55% had accessed medical sources of support (general practitioner or mental health specialist), 46% had received formal non-medical (welfare) support and 86% had used informal support. Gender, age, perceived health, functional impairment, social support, deployment, alcohol and comorbidity impacted upon the choice of help source. Conclusions: This study found that the majority of those with perceived mental health problems sought some form of help, with over half using formal medical sources of support.

SUBMITTER: Stevelink SAM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6338286 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Do serving and ex-serving personnel of the UK armed forces seek help for perceived stress, emotional or mental health problems?

Stevelink Sharon A M SAM Jones Norman N Jones Margaret M Dyball Daniel D Khera Charandeep K CK Pernet David D MacCrimmon Shirlee S Murphy Dominic D Hull Lisa L Greenberg Neil N MacManus Deirdre D Goodwin Laura L Sharp Marie-Louise ML Wessely Simon S Rona Roberto J RJ Fear Nicola T NT

European journal of psychotraumatology 20190114 1

Background: UK armed forces personnel are at risk of occupational psychological injury; they are often reluctant to seek help for such problems. Objective: We aimed to examine and describe sources of support, prevalence and associates of help-seeking among UK serving and ex-serving personnel. Method: A total of 1450 participants who self-reported a stress, emotional or mental health problem in the past 3 years were sampled from a health and wellbeing study and subsequently c ...[more]

PMID: 30693074

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Project description:IntroductionThis is the fourth phase of a longitudinal cohort study (2022-2023) to investigate the health and well-being of UK serving (Regulars and Reservists) and ex-serving personnel (veterans) who served during the era of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. The cohort was established in 2003 and has collected data over three previous phases including Phase 1 (2004-2006), Phase 2 (2007-2009) and Phase 3 (2014-2016).Methods and analysisParticipants are eligible to take part if they completed the King's Centre for Military Health Research Health and Wellbeing Cohort Study at Phase 3 (2014-2016) and consented to be recontacted (N=7608). Participants will be recruited through email, post and text message to complete an online or paper questionnaire. Data are being collected between January 2022 and September 2023. Health and well-being measures include measures used in previous phases that assess common mental disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol misuse. Other areas of interest assess employment, help-seeking and family relationships. New topics include the impact of the British withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, complex PTSD (C-PTSD), illicit drug use, gambling and loneliness. Analyses will describe the effect size between groups deployed to Iraq and/or Afghanistan or not deployed, and those who are currently in service versus ex-service personnel, respectively, reporting prevalences with 95% CIs, and ORs with 95% CI. Multivariable logistic and multiple linear regression analyses will be conducted to assess various health and well-being outcomes and associations with risk and protective factors.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval has been granted by the Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 2061/MODREC/21). Participants are provided with information and agree to a series of consent statements before taking part. Findings will be disseminated to UK Armed Forces stakeholders and international research institutions through stakeholder meetings, project reports and scientific publications.

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Do serving and ex-serving personnel of the UK armed forces seek help for perceived stress, emotional or mental health problems?

Publications

Do serving and ex-serving personnel of the UK armed forces seek help for perceived stress, emotional or mental health problems?

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