Study finds alcohol abuse amongst UK forces
A study led by Simon Wessely of the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, found that PTSD among British armed forces were stable at around 4 percent, but there is evidence of higher rates of mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, and alcohol misuse.
Alcohol abuse happens after soldiers have returned to the UK with 13 percent known to be misusing alcohol. Which makes them 22 percent more likely to abuse alcohol than those who had not. been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
The researchers noted that studies in the United States had found high levels PTSD amongst returning servicemen, these findings had led some to predict Britain too would suffer a "tidal wave" of mental health problems. Such as PTSD, which can stem from wartime trauma such as being wounded or seeing others hurt or killed.
The study, used data from almost 10,000 UK troops. It was funded by the Ministry of Defense, but the researchers stressed that ministers had no other involvement in the work.
An estimated 180,000 British troops have served in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001