Addressing Under-provision in Mental Health

Christine Tinker was called to speak on the motion ‘Addressing Under-provision in Mental Health’ which took place on Wednesday morning starting at 9am.

A series of speakers covered different aspects of the provision of mental health and Christine was called to speak about the need of this service for serving and retired members of the Armed Forces.  She lost her husband in the Falklands War but said there was the never posed question about how many of the ships company relived the awful moments of the attack? What about those who found their shipmates dead or injured? How many of them kept re-living the awful moments of that attack – and for how long?

There were a total of 255 British servicemen killed in the Falklands War and it is said that of those who served there, more than that number have now committed suicide.  As a former Army Officer, Christine said that it’s important to recognise that mental ill health is also a major concern amongst members of our brave Armed Forces and veterans communities.

Nearly 20% of those leaving the Forces will go on to suffer some form of mental illness as a result of their military service.

She said that one area not covered in the motion is the effect that stigma has on those that suffer from mental illnesses. Combat Stress, the organisation that looks after veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and their families, has found that 1 in 3 veterans feel too ashamed to even tell their own families about their mental health disorder and 4 out of every 5 veterans report that shame and embarrassment of suffering from mental health problems has prevented them from seeking medical treatment.

Mental illnesses are the hidden scars of war which impact on the lives of veterans for years, and in some cases, decades after the initial conflict. As an increasing number of servicemen and women return from Iraq and Afghanistan this problem is bound to increase.

She finished by saying that we cannot allow our dedicated servicemen and women who have been exposed to the horror of war to be suffering from trauma-related mental wounds that go unnoticed and untreated and that our brave troops deserve better and entreated Conference to support the motion.

The motion was indeed passed by a huge majority.

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