Troops risk lives and mental health
01-September-2010
By Tygar Taylor
Australia’s casualties in Afghanistan have reached 21 – ten since June – prompting discussions on whether the nearly decade long war is worth the lives of loved ones and the serious mental health affects of war.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) released figures showing this year 24 Afghanistan veterans were discharged for mental health reasons and 31 were discharged in the last six months of 2009.
Overall, 142 cases of 506 discharges since 2003 were specifically driven by mental health disorders such as post traumatic stress (PTS) and extreme anxiety after returning from the Middle-East operations.
“You can probably multiply that many times over,” says John Jarrett, founder and welfare officer of
Young Diggers, a non-government support service for veterans and their families.
“We get upwards of 30 to 40 a month facing mainly PTS, anger, anxiety, depression and relationship issues.”
A Vietnam veteran himself, Jarrett says the difficulty lies in getting troops to pick up the phone and get the counselling.
“In the military if they’re still serving they will not go to the medic, unless they’re really really bad, because it will go on their military record,” he said.
“They would rather go to a civilian doctor or take illicit drugs and self-medicate.”
Current ADF soldier Rob (surname withheld for confidentiality), says he can understand why troops choose to withhold conditions, especially when being medically discharged has the potential to take them from their dream job.
“I didn’t get in when I first applied due to medical conditions so once you’re in you don’t want to risk any health problems threatening that,” he said.
“In the infantry there’s that mentality if you’re hurt, you hide it, if it’s not bad enough you say to yourself, ‘just walk it off.’
“Some people do go into their problems and that’s their choice, no one would ever make a deal about it, but if it was me, I would choose not too.”
This potentially harmful consensus to keep quiet is why the largest ever defence study in Australia is currently underway to establish a baseline for mental health in defence, called the
Military Health Outcomes Program (MilHOP).
Coming under fire recently from the ADF, the study released 120 transcripts revealing the devastation some troops have felt serving overseas since the 90s.
One soldier explaining 22 mental health discharges had occurred in his troop, with six suicides, while another soldier noted how five of his 26 troop members had divorced promptly on their return from the middle-east.
The ADF responded by asking the study to remove the transcripts from its website and promising an $82 million the MilHOP to target the problem.
"Under the program we're increasing the mental health workforce by 50 percent over the next three years and enhancing the training programs for all ADF health professionals," said Major General Paul Alexander, Commander Joint Health Command.
"The ADF is serious about removing any stigma surrounding mental health issues.”
Currently 1500 soldiers are in Afghanistan and 800 are throughout the Middle East, with the government stating it will continue Australia’s presence until required.
The MiHOP study is scheduled to finish by June 30, 2012.
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