Stress lower in soldiers in Iraq than for police

Armed forces serving in Iraq show less signs of psychological distress than police officers, doctors in emergency departments and disaster workers, a study has found.

Focusing on the mental health of UK armed forces while on deployment, the study by researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, included servicemen and women at eight locations across Iraq in January and February 2009.

Of the 611 surveyed, 20.5 per cent demonstrated symptoms of psychological distress, while 3.4 per cent showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

These rates are similar to those found among service personnel not on deployment, said the authors of the study, published in the November issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.

They are also lower than those in other high-stress occupations, such as police officers, doctors in emergency departments and disaster workers.

Respondents were more likely to report good health if they were officers, if they felt their unit was very cohesive with supportive leadership, and if they had taken rest and recuperation outside an operational theatre.

Those who reported psychological distress were most likely to be young, female, in the army, and of junior rank. Junior ranks were also more likely to show symptoms of PTSD, along with those who felt they were in danger of being killed.

While a lot of research on the mental health of UK armed forces personnel has been conducted either before or after deployment, very little is known about their mental health during deployment, Professor Neil Greenberg from the Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health said.

"Interestingly, those who told us they remembered having a pre-deployment stress briefing reported significantly better mental health than those who did not," he said.

Although most units had medical support, Prof Greenberg said training for medical staff had only recently begun to be standardised to ensure it covered mental health disorders.

Those who took part in the survey represented about 15 per cent of personnel deployed in Iraq at the time.