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Stigmatisation, perceived barriers to care, help seeking and the mental health of British Military personnel

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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

The relationship between mental health symptoms, stigmatising beliefs about mental health and help seeking is complex and poorly understood.

Method

1636 UK Armed Forces personnel provided study data immediately after deployment (T1) and approximately 6 months later (T2). Stigmatising beliefs were assessed using an eight-item scale previously used in studies of UK military personnel. Symptoms of probable common mental disorder, probable post-traumatic stress disorder and subjective stressful, emotional, relationship and family problems were evaluated at T1 and T2. Help seeking during deployment was assessed at T1 and post-deployment help seeking at T2. Alcohol use and subjective alcohol problems were assessed at T2 only.

Results

Reporting a probable mental health disorder or potentially harmful alcohol use following deployment was both significantly associated with higher levels of stigmatising beliefs. The reported degree of stigma was associated with changes in mental health symptom levels; compared to those who were never classified as a probable mental health disorder case, recovered cases experienced significantly lower levels of stigmatisation, whereas new onset cases reported significantly higher levels.

Conclusion

The way that individuals report mental health stigmatisation is not static; rather stigma fluctuates in proportion to the frequency and severity of psychological symptoms. These results suggest that public health stigma-reduction strategies which aim to promote engagement with mental health services should be focused towards people who are experiencing worsening mental health. Our results suggest that willing volunteers who have recovered from a mental-ill-health episode may be well placed to assist in the delivery of such a strategy.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for military research personnel was received from the UK Ministry of Defence. The study was funded by a grant from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Academic Department of Military Mental Health, Academic Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Weston Education Centre, Cutcombe Road, London, SE5 9RJ, UK

    Norman Jones, Mary Keeling, Gursimran Thandi & Neil Greenberg

Authors
  1. Norman Jones
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  2. Mary Keeling
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  3. Gursimran Thandi
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  4. Neil Greenberg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Norman Jones.

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Disclaimers

Norman Jones is a serving member of the British Army. Mary Keeling, Gursimran Thandi and Neil Greenberg were recruited specifically for the study. Although funding was received from DSTL and the UK Ministry of Defence, no direction was taken from the funding agencies in the delivery of the research project and the presentation of the study outcomes.

Ethical approval

Although the study was a secondary analysis of existing data, the randomised controlled trial that provided the dataset was conducted with approval from the UK Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committee and the King’s College Hospital Research Ethics Committee. All participants gave written informed consent.

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Jones, N., Keeling, M., Thandi, G. et al. Stigmatisation, perceived barriers to care, help seeking and the mental health of British Military personnel. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 50, 1873–1883 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1118-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1118-y

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