Alcohol misuse 'significantly higher' in armed forces

Alcohol misuse in the armed forces is "substantially higher" than the level expected for the general population, according to a parliamentary report, which also finds that in the military the misuse is four times more common than post-traumatic stress disorder. The defence select committee calls for the Ministry of Defence to conduct an urgent study into the issue to examine why 13% of military personnel have got a "drink problem", compared to 6% in the general population. The report, published on Thursday, includes evidence from Gerry Berragan, a general, who claimed "there was significant misuse of alcohol in personnel under 35 – about twice as high as in broader society – with an even higher difference for women". The general said the armed forces recruited risk takers, put them in stressful situations, then returned them home "with money and free time, when they drank excessively". Though the MoD now provides briefings, warnings and counselling on alcohol misuse, the committee said this was not enough. The MoD had to recognise the seriousness of alcohol abuse within the ranks, and find ways of stopping personnel from turning to the bottle. The committee said: "It is unclear to us whether the MoD regards the misuse of alcohol and other dangerous risk-taking behaviour as part of a pattern of reprehensible behaviour which requires punishment or discouragement, or a manifestation of stress which requires treatment, or indeed a combination of both. "We recommend that the MoD carry out a study into what is driving the misuse. The MoD has yet to recognise the seriousness of the alcohol problem and must review its policy in this area." The report also looks at the short- and long-term care of people who suffered life-changing injuries during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It praises the remarkable medical care given to the injured in war zones, but says ministers had to understand that care needed to be sustained over a lifetime. The committee said the government should assure the wounded that they would not be forgotten about "when the Afghan operation becomes history". Its members said they were concerned about the numbers who could "go on to develop severe and life-limiting, physical, mental health, alcohol or neurological problems". There was still a question mark over whether the government as a whole fully understood likely demands and related costs. James Arbuthnot, the committe's Tory chair, said: "We need to have the confidence that specific treatment, for injuries hardly ever seen in general NHS experience, will continue long after an individual's retirement and into old age." The report also calls for support for families following a death on duty. "It is often the families left behind at home that bear the brunt of difficulties caused by deployment … it is time the department turned that acknowledgement into action, and we urge it to look again at the support services it provides for the families and children of armed forces personnel."