Military Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a serious disorder which involves many symptoms such as self harm, anger, violence and drug addiction as well as depression. All of these are common symptoms of Military Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and sadly affects thousands of soldiers every year who have serviced in the armed forces.
The number of people who are experiencing and suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as war trauma, is said to hugely increase in the next few years due to the number of soldiers who are fighting in areas such as Helmand and Basra. There are concerns that the Iraq war is producing more cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder than any other conflict in decades, one of the main reasons for this is that the violence has been so widespread and exposure to it so constant over long periods of time. The suicide bombers, roadside mines and the constant threat of attack within the Iraq war poses a unique challenge to the mental health of the soldiers who are serving in it.
The number of troops diagnosed with past traumatic stress disorder has increased by about 50%. It has been estimated that about 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with the post traumatic stress disorder since 2003 and it is thought that many more are probably keeping their illness a secret. This is often because they are embarrassed or they fear having the condition hurt their military career; due to this a large majority of the soldiers suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder don’t get the treatment that they need.
Many people, including people in the medical profession don’t fully understand Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and often take on the notion that soldiers will be fine when leaving the service but what people don’t realise is that incidents of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among people involved in military go back to the American Civil War and cases ran high after the Falklands War with over 300 British combatants committing suicide since 1982. It is believed that as many as 60,000 American soldiers (18 per cent of the total US fighting force) and 2,000 British soldiers have been, or will be, diagnosed with PTSD after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defence has a duty to protect all employees, just like any other UK employer does, wherever they are stationed in the world. If this duty of care is breeched and you end up suffering as a result of it then you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation.
If you have suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder whilst serving in the Armed Forces then contact Accident Consult and our solicitors will be able to advise you on the best course of action. We aim to secure for all of our clients the maximum amount of compensation in the shortest possible timeframe.
Call us today on 08081 68 69 70 and speak to one of our specialist advisors today.
