'British troops face risk of massive mental health problems'.Byline: ANI London, Aug. 26 (ANI): British soldiers are faced with massive mental health problems due to drastic working conditions and out of date support techniques, a former Special Air Service soldier has revealed. Ex-trooper Bob Paxman, 41, has broken the SAS (1) (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, www.sas.com) A software company that specializes in data warehousing and decision support software based on the SAS System. Founded in 1976, SAS is one of the world's largest privately held software companies. See SAS System. vow of silence to reveal the risk soldiers face fighting post-traumatic stress disorder post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mental disorder that follows an occurrence of extreme psychological stress, such as that encountered in war or resulting from violence, childhood abuse, sexual abuse, or serious accident. (PTSD PTSD posttraumatic stress disorder. PTSD abbr. posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ). "The military have got a massive problem on their hands and they haven't faced up to it yet. It can be anything from flashbacks, nightmares, depression or self-medication self-medication n. Medication of oneself without professional supervision so as to alleviate an illness or a condition. self-medication with drugs or alcohol," said Paxman, who has set up a charity to help those suffering in silence. His newly registered charity, Talking2Minds, uses cognitive, neuro-linguistic and time line therapies. "It's a huge problem and we are getting a lot of telephone calls each week from the tri-services and the blue light services," Sky News quoted him, as saying. Critics claim the Ministry of Defence has not provided the support troops need, especially with increasing work loads post- post- word element [L.], after; behind. post- pref. 1. After; later: postpartum. 2. Behind; posterior to: postaxial. 9/11 with action in Iraq and Afghanistan. PTSD experts estimate one in five troops being affected and Paxman believes the military's method of treating troops is decades out of date. "They have certain types of counselling but these processes are basically based in the 1960s," Paxman, who left the service after 11 years in 2000, said. The Ministry of Defence denies their facilities are outmoded out·mod·ed adj. 1. Not in fashion; unfashionable: outmoded attire; outmoded ideas. 2. No longer usable or practical; obsolete: outmoded machinery. . An MoD spokesman told Sky News Online: "The MoD takes the mental welfare of all our personnel extremely seriously and extensive measures are in place to prevent and treat mental health concerns. For elite Special Forces soldiers revealing problems might mean being sidelined permanently. "The worst fear everyone in the SAS has is that they'd get binned form the unit if they said something - and they probably would," Paxman said (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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