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Written question asked by James Gray (Conservative) on Thursday, 11 December 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 December 2008. It was answered by Lord Beamish (Labour) on Thursday, 18 December 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces: Stress

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) officers and (b) other ranks in (i) the Army, (ii) the Royal Air Force and (iii) the Royal Navy have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.
Answer

The MOD's Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA) organisation has since July 2007 reported on the psychiatric morbidity of the UK armed forces, and quarterly reports for the whole of 2007 are now available both in the Library of the House and from the DAS A website: www.dasa.mod.uk. Verified data for the whole of the armed forces covering all deployments is not available prior to 2007.The DASA statistics report on the numbers of new attendances at MOD's Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs) during each quarter. The DASA figures for the number of personnel newly assessed with a mental health disorder are broken down by Service and by officers and other ranks, although the Service totals are not broken down by rank. The DASA figures also report the initial mental health assessment made during the patient's first appointment.The DASA figures are shown in the two tables, and refer to the calendar year 2007:

Service Patients assessed with a mental health disorder in 2007 Patients assessed with PTSD in 2007
Royal Navy 510 18
Royal Marines 89 17
Army 2,316 122
RAF 847 17
Characteristics not known 155 6
Total 3,917 180
Rank Patients assessed with a mental health disorder in 2007 Patients assessed with PTSD in 2007
Officers 251 9
Other Ranks 3,511 165
Characteristics not known 155 6
Total 3,917 180

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
485 c962-3W; 244493
Session
2008-09
Subjects
Armed forces Stress Post-traumatic stress disorder
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk