I woke in the night and listened to Talksport where there was a phone-in about the number of ex-service personnel who are serving prison sentences. Some veterans who had been in prison phoned in to explain why they ended up criminals and their stories were all extremely upsetting.
According to the probation officers' union Napo, some 20,000 veterans are in the criminal justice system, with 8,500 of them in jail, making up almost 10% of the prison population. Other sources say the number is nearer 24,000 veterans who are either in jail, on parole or serving community orders after having been convicted of crimes.
"There is overwhelming evidence that support is not available of sufficient calibre when soldiers leave the service," Harry Fletcher, Napo's assistant general secretary said.
"The preponderance of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression is also alarming."
The Napo survey of 90 cases of convicted veterans found nearly half suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression as a result of their experiences in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Opposition MPs and charities claim that if the Ministry of Defence properly screened those discharged from the military for mental illnesses, problems could be identified earlier.
Perhaps some problems could be recognised before the soldiers leave the forces, but most must arise when they return to a civilian lifestyle. After working day and night for months on end with people who have strong principles of loyalty and trustworthiness, it must be hard to return to what they see as a greedy, self-centred society where they are regarded, usually disdainfully, as 'just a squaddie'.
If I had a pound for each time I've heard "if he hadn't joined up he would have been a waster," I would be a wealthy woman. Such attitudes enrage me and I usually retort, "But he did join up and was happy to go anywhere in the world, live for months on end in hellish conditions even the fittest find exceedingly difficult and fight to protect you and me. It's when he returns to live among us that he finds how little his efforts were valued."
For some, living in civvie street can turn into a personal battle and they find they're unable to adjust. Marriages and relationships break down usually because the soldier resorts to alcohol or drugs to relieve their distress and of course drink and dope only add to their problems.
More help is needed when the ex-soldier initially comes into contact with the criminal justice system and I believe much more effort should be made to tackle the acceptance of heavy drinking that still happens within certain sections of the armed forces. For too many years excessive alcohol consumption has been ignored by military bosses as a 'stress release' and an acceptable part of military service. Senior military officers continue to turn a blind eye to the culture of alcohol excess.
A spokesman for SSAFA, (Soldiers, Seamen and Air Force Association) the services charity said: "The majority of people who leave the armed forces leave having had a life-changing experience."
"Some do find it difficult to adjust and feel isolated and lonely. In some cases people will descend into alcohol or substance abuse, lose their job and spiral into homelessness and eventually end up in jail. Military operations in recent years have placed the armed forces under increased pressures."
An MoD spokesman said:"Robust systems are in place to treat and prevent PTSD and other stress disorders. Counselling is available to service personnel at all times and troops receive pre- and post-deployment briefings to help recognise the signs of stress disorders."
Ask any ex-soldier and they will tell you the above statement is untrue. The systems are not robust, they're very basic. Combat Stress can only cope with the most serious cases and they only accept referrals. The organisation does not have a walk-in facility where a soldier can go and talk with others who understand his problems.
Successive governments have done away with military hospitals and insisted we had no further need for asylums - those havens where anyone with mental health troubles could gain respite and peace to recharge their inner selves. Isn't it strange that we offer asylum to people from other countries yet we deny our ex-military the same?
It's now time our politicians actually did something about our veterans. Locking those with mental health issues (the majority) in prison only consolidates their feelings of uselessness and these people need to be treated with empathy and respect. This matter needs urgent attention. These people are not wasters or shirkers, but people who are having difficulties coping with everyday life away from the discipline and comradeship they have known in our armed services. They made a valuable contribution to our society when in the military and they have a valuable contribution to make to society as a civilian.
We owe them the best of care to rest and recover don't we? The only people who can help them receive this is you and me - the very ones they spent their working lives protecting. Therefore it's down to us to fight for greater help for those veterans with mental health problems. For a start we could insist government organise clinics which a soldier can access by contacting direct. Of course these would cost money but isn't early intervention better than having broken families usually accompanied by children who can be distressed long-term by losing a parent?
Source: Telegraph
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Hi Subrosa, thank you very much for your suggestions regarding to Italian lakes area, I must check it as soon, as possible :-) All the best and see you!
I have never known a government so faithless as the present one, so inclined to 'solve' problems by saying they don't exist, or to resort instinctively to barefaced lies instead of action.
They might just gain some respect, or possibly ameliorate the contempt in which they are held, if they went so far as to acknowledge that ex-service personnel, especially those who have been in combat, can face serious difficulties in adjusting to civilian life and that we are not yet providing them with enough help.
But no. Of course, they can't even do that. Instead, help is 'robust' according to them.
Lying, self-seeking scumbags.
That's ok Magda, the south end is very touristy but as you go nearer Switzerland it becomes less so. I say that but the north point is also touristy because of the skiing facilities nearby.
Jim, you have no idea how long that post took me to write - not because of my poor writing skills, which I acknowledge, but because of my fury when I read my research documents.
Robust my backside as they say in Milngavie.
I blogged on this last night as well, in between trying to sort out some issues at work which took me until 4am. I'm lucky I got to go to my own bed after that and sleep a wee bit late unlike the veterans who are suffering.
The big problem here is that the government and MOD want to cover this all up because of the impact it has on the public. This then causes even more issues, it is a huge trap and we are descending into it very quickly. With over 60,000 troops having served in Afghanistan and the problems getting worse, what can we expect in the future?
subrosa,
I remember once asking an ex-soldier, who was working as a security guard in a very dangerous place, why he was there and he told me that he missed the adrenaline rush he got from being in a very dangerous place.
How would he have compensated for that in ordinary civilian life?
Since demob quite some years ago I have witnessed many friends spiral out of control to end up in jail or taking their own lives.
What is evident and has been for decades is that not only does this UK of ours not provide our troops with proper kit, (it was the same when I was in, we bought a lot of kit,) but also the UK finds us a nuisance when we are demobbed. The trendy liberal snobby political elite fields the opinion that we knew what we were signing on for. (What did they expect?) They trill.
I beg to differ. I like most members of the forces sign on at 16 or 17. Something in your life has triggered the desire to sign on. Perhaps it was a recruiting tour in your local park or school. Soldiers are selected to go on these tours on the basis that they are "satisfied soldiers," I was and I did.
Recruiting will be targeted at poor areas with high rates of unemployment, working class. Not affluent middle class areas.
Perhaps it was an advert, or a TV documentary. Or perhaps like me you just wanted to get the f out of a bad situation. You listen to guys telling you what a great life they have and all the magic places they have been. You get fed and clothed and earn a bit of money. Can’t be bad.
Young fit men and women are sought, in the 16-17-age range. Because at that age you know sod all, are easily manipulated and are susceptible to the glamorous images presented to you. You have not had the benefit of further education that could have shown you the futility of war.
If you serve 9-10 years that is the average, you will still be in your twenties, fit as a fiddle, trained to kill, these days you probably have killed several times. Have seen action and felt the buzz and the high of adrenalin as you win through again, and the feeling of comrade ship and being part of something really awesome. After a live operation when you have taken and returned fire it can take days for your system to calm down.
When you arrive back in civvy street, it eventually dawns on you what you have left. You may be lucky and get a crap job paying crap money, along side people who seem defeated and humbled by life. That is the point where you may start to drink heavily or take drugs, seeking the thrill and the buzz that your system is craving for.
What I have often thought is that there is a British Legion in every town nearly. With a little imagination and financial support from government there is an institution ready to take on the job of mentoring and supporting these veterans, in the company of people who have been there and got the t-shirt. There is so much the Legion could do, they do grand work as does the Veterans Agency, but you need to seek them out. They should with MOD help be much more proactive.
Maybe there should be an amnesty or pardon for those convicted of minor crimes or even major crimes with clear evidence of PTSD where psychiatric treatment may succeed.
http://jess-the-dog.blogspot.com/2009/09/amnesty-for-armed-forces.html
Great idea Jess. Do you think it's worth doing a No 10 petition?
We must have been writing the same thing around the same time FL because I did most of mine in the middle of the night too. Mind you, I didn't publish it until this morning because I wanted to hear all of the Talksport debate - until I fell asleep that is.
I read your post this morning and completely agree with you.
There must be something in the air up here which makes us pick similar subjects. Next time we do similar subjects at the same time, I'll put a link to yours. Tell me off if I don't won't you.
Now that's a great idea KBW, but the British Legion really do need to modernise their imagine. In my town the image is of a few old men, standing at a rather rundown looking bar, a few times a week.
It's members only (although it does have a decent dance floor which is seldom used) and that discourages locals.
Do you think the British Legion would be willing to take a much bigger role in helping veterans KBW, that is if they had the professional help necessary.
Leaving such help to very willing and kind volunteers, in many cases just wouldn't be enough.
Now how can all this be tied together? The British Legion, SSAFA, Combat Stress, and I'm sure there are others.
I suppose that's why serving the country is a life changing experience brownlie and once the body gets used to such highs with adrenalin it takes a professional to help readjust.
I have met many ex-soldiers, and find the U.K. have the worst record of treatment after they leave the forces, I have met many from other countries who have been in tighter situations then the U.K. forces, i.e. fought more battles, killed more enemy.
The other forces have been able to adjust to civilian life easier for several reasons.
One of the reasons is being able to keep your personal military arm at home, and use it on the range or for hunting, when you miss the buzz of military life you can take out your rifle, clean it, go shoot it on the range, clean it again and again, this removes so much stress, and keeps you level headed, also the attitude of the public to ex-forces, well it certainly helped me having seen between 3,000 / 5,000 bodies as a result of combat,
many many friends agree.
Thanks for that Fire Force, really appreciated.
The public do find it difficult to understand the intensity of the training the military receive because such intensity seldom exists in civilian life.
I know many European ex-military hunt to get the buzz back and it's such a shame we can't organise something in this country.
I've never understood the public's attitude at all. They support the police (when a police officer is shot everyone is 'horrified'), the same goes for the fire service but the military are only paid lip service.
Much of it seems to be along the lines of what I said - 'the army's just for wasters'.
If only the public realised many of today's army are highly educated people who, for one reason or another, decide to offer their services to protect the people of these islands. They don't do it for the money that's for sure because most could earn a great deal more in civilian life.
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