Young military veterans show similar help seeking behaviour

doi:10.1136/bmj.39128.705718.3A

BMJ 2007;334:382 (24 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.39128.705718.3A

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Mental health of offenders

Young military veterans show similar help seeking behaviour

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A study undertaken by the King's Centre for Military HealthResearch had similar findings to those reported by Howertonet al.¹ The study investigated the help seeking paths of youngmen (n=74) leaving Colchester Military Corrective Training Centre,colloquially known as the "military prison." Young veteransfound it difficult to access available resettlement servicesfor a variety of reasons including: previous bad experienceswith other services, lack of knowledge of what services wereavailable, and feelings that these services would not be ableto help. Additionally, this group had high levels of mentalill health, both before discharge (n=61, 82%) and six monthsafter leaving (n=39, 53%). Only a small minority of those withmental health problems were seeking help for these problems,and most preferred to use informal networks of support, suchas friends and family. Six months after leaving, only one participantwith a mental health problem reported . . . [Full text of this article]

Lauren N van Staden, project coordinator, Nicola Fear, senior lecturer in military epidemiology, Amy Iversen, clinical lecturer, Claire French, research associate, Christopher Dandeker, Codirector, King's Centre for Military Health Research, Simon Wessely, Codirector, King's Centre for Military Health Research

King's College London, London SE5 9RJ

lauren.van_staden@kcl.ac.uk

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