Screening soldiers for mental health problems doesn't work

I suppose everyone's different and they react in different ways to traumatic events.

 

I have to say it but the Army / Navy does not attract the best in the med profession who conduct said screening process. I have been responsible for vetting ex service applicants for jobs in my industry and any PTSD or other mental problem means do not touch with barge pole. Once the stigma is attached it cannot be released, my advice is leave well alone.

 

So what is it about Professor Sir Simon Wessely, Professor of psychological medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, London, and head of its department of psychological medicine, vice dean for academic psychiatry, teaching and training at the Institute of Psychiatry, Director of the King's Centre for Military Health Research, honorary consultant psychiatrist at KCH and the Maudsley, civilian consultant advisor in psychiatry to the Army, and President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists that is lacking, in your view?

 

For PTSD possible complex PTSD/ personality difficulties {they still aren't sure what is going on,it seems to me, his aunt told me mum,they have ruled out schizophrenia, and think it's some serious assaults hn his childhood did this } , he hears voices, gets extremely paranoid and goes into explosive rages at times. Has made a serious suicide attempt, self harms as well.

, my cousin is seeing a therapist once a week, his social worker every 3 weeks, an employment advisor once a month, he has also got two support workers, one to go out with for his exposure therapy and another to help him at home .He sees a psychiatrist once every two months. Does that sound about right to you? I personally think they ought to hang the two ******* from a lampost who got him into this mess, but from the sounds of it, they are giving him quite a bit of support.

 

Or how Sertraline affects you.

 

I doubt that records exist even for relatively new recruits never mind old farts like myself. My hearing loss was repeatedly glossed over by the MOD and the NHS, never mind my poor susceptibility to other mental health issues due, primarily, to my divorce rather than service issues.

 

You're not supposed to use 'gut feeling' though, are you? The idea of any project of this type is to use raw, primary data. And it says what it says. Gut feeling means "I don't believe it"

 

The challenges that a person goes through when leaving the army (or any form of institution) can be tracked. There is a well trodden path - its not that narrow though. We have 'what a lot of people do' - which is common - and then some that are out of that control area.

• It depends on what you're like when you join
• Why you join - ambition, peer pressure, nothing else to do
  
• What you are sold, or told it's going to be like
• What you actually get
• What happens to you
  
• How long you're there for and how institutionalized you become.

When I was in, we had 18 year old's on P wing, suicides, awol, stress, depression - and I left in 1991.

Then, when you leave, you are thrown into an alien world called 'civvy street' and the old rules don't apply. Nobody wants to see your medals or hear your stories. You can't get a job or somewhere to live because your qualifications aren't recognized and support can be rated as little to none. And when that happens, society gets a label with 'problem' written on it and sticks it on you.

And the excuse of "You knew what you were getting into" is completely invalid because the experience each individual goes through is unique.

So until this situation is correctly addressed, you will always have this problem. I now work with 16 and 17 year old civilian kids and they pretty much go through the same thing. The mental health issues in this age bracket are staggering - lack of meaningful friendships, no visible future, self harm, abuse, drugs, depression, suicide, no role models, poor standards and values. In essence, we're talking about the same thing.

 

True, but there must be an area where experience counts. Also, body language can give an indication if the individual is 'uncomfortable' with the answer they give.

 

There is the concept of 'quick kill'. You've seen it before and already know what the solution is and you don't have to reinvent the wheel. And if someone is uncomfortable with what they are saying then it's false data. There are ways and means of getting a more honest answer out of someone, and i'm not talking about waterboarding!

 

I'm on Sertraline...... I hope the side effects are worth it.

 

That's an SSRI type of anti depressant, Mick. Can I encourage you to go and see your doctor? Known side effects and there are better things to be on - it's an old drug with side effects. PM me if you want to.

 

That's an issue for you to resolve with your doctor, and nothing to do with the topic of this thread. There is a mental health/depression thread elsewhere for that sort of discussion. Please keep this thread on topic.