Resolution Sponsors - Thank you SCS

At the recent Defence Systems and Equipment International exhibition in London's Docklands, business consultancy SCS agreed to sponsor treatment of an Iraq or Afghanistan returnee with post-traumatic symptoms.

SCS is a leading independent consultancy providing a range of technical services primarily but not exclusively for the defence and security sectors. Its main client is the MOD and its agencies; other clients include NATO, major defence contractors, other Government Departments and a range of blue-chip non-defence businesses.

Resolution would like to thank SCS for this support, and would very much like to hear from other defence-related businesses with an interest in the welfare of our servicemen

Call for action by the National Council of Women

The following resolution on Service Personnel and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was passed by the NCW at its conference:

The National Council of Women, in Conference assembled, mindful of the emotional distress suffered by returning service personnel and their families, urges the Ministry of Defence to:

1. take steps to remove any stigma from acknowledging post-traumatic stress;

2. take the necessary action to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder early (however late it may manifest)

3. note the high success rate claimed by the charitable organisation RESOLUTION, staffed by civilians and some ex-soldiers who have trained as counsellors, and

4. recommend the inclusion, in the funding of community mental health initiatives, of some funding for a small and closely-monitored pilot study into RESOLUTION.

Submitted by: NCW Health Committee

Proposer. Valerie Alasia, Chairman, NCW Health Committee.

Seconded by: Dr, Maureen Beauchamp, Secretary, NCW Health Committee

Proposer's Speech:

In the light of media reporting of the suffering of returning serving personnel and their families and, eventually, the wider public, the Health Committee has researched the provision of help and counselling for our servicemen.

Commonsense, kindness and thrift would suggest that those returning from combat zones should debriefed and for offered help as soon as possible. But it is recognised that post-traumatic stress may take years to manifest in these proud people, whilst causing deterioration in quality of life and behaviour. Unlike the days of the troopship, those returning now are flown in, perhaps from scenes of carnage, directly to the company of family and friends who cannot share those experiences. They should be given a clear explanation of potential difficulties and available treatments, and told that there is no stigma attached to the condition.

The Government, correctly, wishes to use methods and organisations approved by NICE. Approval, understandably, requires an assessment of efficacy - usually a two-year survey with a statistically positive outcome.

The waiting time for National Health appointments is governed by NHS guidelines. Returning combatants may take some time to refer themselves; thus their Post-traumatic Stress Disorder may be more deep-seated and more difficult to alleviate. The cost to society through anti-social behaviour, addictions, imprisonment and hospital admissions should be weighed against the cost of wider and earlier intervention.

The Health Committee learned, at its recent Seminar on Maternal Mental Health issues, that to be mentally ill is still regarded by many as weak or shameful, instead of being an illness to be acknowledged and treated in the same way as any physical disorder. How much more difficult must it be for those whose occupation is to be brave and uncomplaining in the face of unimaginable horrors (and for their families) to recognise problems and to ask for help.

We heard speakers from "Resolution" a charitable, nationally based organisation staffed by civilians and some ex-soldiers who have trained as counsellors. They spoke of the relative ease with which early, or late, post-traumatic horrors can be faced and dealt with, but for which they have only empirical and anecdotal evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of their treatment. A course costs £600. A week in an NHS hospital or HM prison costs much more, and not just financially.

We note that Government has promised 300 more counsellors for returning servicemen. Perhaps they will look at the success-rate for "Resolution", investigate the treatment correlation with NICE guidelines, and recognise the potential for delivering wider, better, cheaper treatment now.

Battle Scarred web site

The Battle Scarred website, which complements the Dispatches programme (which was aired Monday 7th September at 8pm) has now gone live.

The website offers exclusive video clips and stories about the psychological traumas suffered by many soldiers as a result of their time spent in combat zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan–some of which may take years to develop.

The site covers four topics; mental health, relationships, alcohol and suicide and each has a series of clips from ex soldiers and their families about how each of these has directly affected them. In a series of moving short videos, the clips tell the stories of how families can be left devastated by the suicide of their loved ones, how lives can be wrecked by trying to battle the demons of war with drink or drugs and how marriages and relationships can falter when a returning soldier tries to adjust to life back home.

There are also research articles into the background of each topic and a chance for anyone affected by them to comment on the issues and share their experiences.

There is a section for Help and Support and links to other websites which discuss the impact of combat on the psychological health of the people who serve in our military.

Photographs taken by serving soldiers and video clips taken with their mobile phones also give a sense of what life is like fighting in places like Iraq and Afghanistan and there are a series of portraits of ex-soldiers by the film-maker David Modell of all the people he spoke to in the making of Battle Scarred.

Please visit the site at www.channel4.com/battlescarred

Canadian troops lost to mental health problems

A Canadian Veterans Affairs Department official recently said that over 20% of Canadian soldiers deployed to Afghanistan had subsequently left the armed forces because of PTSD or other psychiatric problems. The National Defence Department has been criticised for not working hard enough to help service personnel with mental health problems.

PTSD and ... Multiple Sclerosis

A recent court ruling has raised new concerns about PTSD by concluding that it may have helped cause multiple sclerosis. It was argued in court that stress can at least spark individual attacks or make symptoms seem more intense, and the judge ruled that PTSD actually prompted or exacerbated a veteran's MS, overturning a review-board decision refusing the man a pension. The veteran said in an interview. "I could have maybe warded off MS had I been given the proper medical treatment when I needed it."

Whatever actually happened with this veteran's Multiple Sclerosis, this case underlines the need to get better organised with PTSD care, offering rapid treatment as soon as servicemen start to feel disturbed by their experiences. Now we know how to prevent these cases growing into entrenched disabilities it makes sense to use that knowledge.

Walking Wounded - Thanks to BBC Scotland

Resolution would like to thank BBC Scotland for Walking Wounded, the film about veterans struggling with life after the Army. The film portrayed with terrible clarity the Kafkaesque nightmare faced by veterans as they attempt to find some peace in their lives while negotiating a pensions, benefits, housing and employment system that is almost guaranteed to wind up their anger and frustration. Sensitively produced by Stephen Bennett of Clarity Productions, the film portrayed some of the shocking truths about being a traumatised veteran without straying into voyeurism or sensationalism. Scottish national daily paper The Scotsman called Walking Wounded "a heartbreaking documentary... a powerful depiction of despair and neglect".

Walking Wounded - Film from BBC Scotland

BBC Scotland's film 'Walking Wounded' is an emotionally charged and uncompromising look at the experiences of young ex-soldiers as they adapt to civilian life. It follows three veterans as they attempt to negotiate the difficulties of adapting to civilian life while struggling with the after-effects of their time in the Army. One of the three is Chris from Nottinghamshire, who suffers from acute post-traumatic stress disorder following his tours of Bosnia and Iraq during the first Gulf War. A spiral of anger, drink and depression ended in the loss of his family, business and home, leaving him sleeping rough in London. Moving to Edinburgh with the promise of a new life, Chris enters a maze of benefit systems and Veterans charities. Resolution is one of the organisations that offers him help, and the programme follows his progress. Walking Wounded shows what to expect if you are treated by Resolution, and you can see it on the BBC iPlayer here: