Shropshire Star

Poll: Is enough done to support the nation's armed forces veterans?

The number of veterans seeking help for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health problems has increased sharply over the last year.

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Military charity Combat Stress reported a 26% rise in levels of former services personnel needing support. The organisation said six new veterans are coming forward to ask for help each day.

A total of 2,264 former soldiers, sailors or pilots contacted Combat Stress in the last year.

The rise in cases of more than a quarter at least doubled the increase seen the previous year.

The trend was said to be mainly due to a "marked rise" in the number of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan coming forward with mental health problems.

Dr Walter Busuttil, director of medical services at Combat Stress, said: "We are very concerned at the significant rise in those coming forward with military PTSD.

"It is the biggest increase we have seen in recent years and we expect it to continue, so we are building up our clinical services accordingly."

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