Calls for better mental healthcare for veterans

Wednesday, 07 December 2011

An MP has called for better mental health care for war veterans and claimed their emotional injuries are an "invisible problem" in today's society.

James Gray, 57, spoke about the issue in Parliament and said more needed to be done to look after and support veterans who may suffer years after combat.

He asked for the NHS to play a role in helping servicemen recognise whether they are suffering with mental illness after they return from war.

Mr Gray, MP for North Wiltshire, was taking part in a debate in Parliament on Tuesday when he made his points.

He said: "Allied to the question of stigma is people's failure to recognise symptoms in themselves. 

"People often suffer some of these things many years after the incident that caused them.  

"Do my colleagues agree that another role the NHS could usefully play would be to advertise some of the symptoms and causes of these unfortunate mental disorders so that people actually recognise what is happening to them?"

"I remember speaking to a 19-year-old sniper on a visit to Afghanistan - I asked him, 'How many confirmed kills have you got as a sniper?' and he replied, 'I've got 34 confirmed, and a further 26 probables', so something like 50 or 60. 

"I asked, "Doesn't that worry you?" and he said, "No, sir, it's no trouble at all. It's a blur at the end of the sight, and I pull the trigger and do my job and that's that. It has absolutely no effect whatsoever."

"Who are we to say whether when that young lad is 50 or 60 he will have some form of effect from that experience?  

"It is therefore incredibly important that we address this grave issue.

"I pay tribute to Help for Heroes and to my constituents in Royal Wootton Bassett and across the area, who have done great stuff with bereaved families and soldiers coming back from theatre of war with injuries, but this is a much more invisible problem."

Hazel Blears, Labour MP for Salford and Eccles added: "If we could normalise mental health in that way to some extent, people would feel much more comfortable about coming forward and saying they have a problem."