Stigma and mental health in the Royal Navy: A mixed methods paper

Abstract

Internal stigma remains a significant barrier to help seeking within the Royal Navy, especially for distressed personnel. This may be especially problematic for junior personnel who are known to be particularly vulnerable to developing mental health problems.

Stigma of mental illness: A study in the Indian Armed Forces

“…problematic, especially for junior personnel who are particularly vulnerable to developing mental health problem. 19 Stigma associated with mental health care and concerns about service utilization appearing on military records and on career advancement ranked high as barriers among service members. For families of soldiers, barriers included the costs of mental health care, trouble with scheduling appointments, difficulty in getting time off work, and not knowing where to get help.…”

Mental health of regular and reserve military veterans

“…Those with mental health problems were much more likely to report barriers to care and concerns about stigmatisation than those who were well (Hoge 2004). In a study in the Royal Navy, distressed service personnel reported selfstigmatising beliefs two to three times more often than those who were not distressed (Langston 2009). Individuals with stress were also more sensitive to barriers of care and were less likely to believe that any help they might receive would be rendered confidentially (Langston 2009).…”

“…In a study in the Royal Navy, distressed service personnel reported selfstigmatising beliefs two to three times more often than those who were not distressed (Langston 2009). Individuals with stress were also more sensitive to barriers of care and were less likely to believe that any help they might receive would be rendered confidentially (Langston 2009). This may explain the finding by the charity Combat Stress that the average delay between symptom onset and presentation to services is 13 years for veterans (Combat Stress, personal communication 2007).…”

PTSD in the armed forces: What have we learned from the recent cohort studies of Iraq/Afghanistan?

“…The purpose of screening for PTSD would be to improve the prognosis of the condition by the use of efficacious treatment, but identification of PTSD may not be helpful if a large proportion of cases can improve without treatment (Rona et al, 2005). This issue is also complicated by what is known about help seeking and stigma and only a proportion of personnel with PTSD will actually seek help (Ben-Zeev et al, 2012;Iversen et al, 2011;Langston et al, 2010).…”