The British military was asked by King’s College London to fill-in a questionnaire related to the soldiers’ general health, alcohol use, problems at home and symptoms relating to psychological distress or post-combat stress.
The 5,547 questionnaires show that the troops’ mental health and the duration of their deployments are closely linked. The shocking report that is going to be published in the British Medical Jounral (BMJ) stated that soldiers who serve longer than the military's guidelines of a maximum 13-month deployment over a three-year period were 55 percent more likely to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder compared to those deployed for shorter periods.
What is worse is the uncertainty that the soldiers feel regarding when they’d return home. Serving long periods of time in combat zones was also proven to be related to the increase in the consumption of alcohol.
According to Agence France Presse (AFP), the authors of the report, led by public health professor Roberto Rona, say that the British military can help reduce the risk of post-traumatic stress by setting down a "clear and explicit policy" on the duration of each deployment.
Wars also have a tremendous effect on the soldiers’ families. The Jounral of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported that American children related to parents deployed in either Iraq or Afghanistan are much more vulnerable to abuse than those who are not. This abuse is mostly evident in physical and emotional maltreatment and neglect especially by the soldiers’ partners who are going through their own emotional dilemma. AFP reported that Deborah Gibbs, a researcher with RTI International of North Carolina, looked into the cases of 1,771 families of enlisted U.S. troops and documented cases of child abuse. Other studies also showed that incidents of parental mistreatment increased 42 percent when one parent was deployed to a combat zone.
“The deployments had the greatest effect on civilian females who were left behind when their soldier-husbands were deployed," said Sandra Martin, a study author and professor of maternal and child health at the University of North Carolina.
The American and the British armies are working on improving the situation for the soldiers’ families by providing programs that can include some access to child care, home visits for families with infants, and parental support groups. However, it doesn’t seem that things would be better for the deployed soldiers who are working under authorities that overstretch their armed forces. With a dead end and not so many options, the U.S. and the UK extend the duration of missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and reduce time between deployments; decisions that affect the mental health of their own soldiers, which in turn endanger the lives of Iraqi and Afghan civilians.
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