Press Office

Key Facts

Combat Stress is the leading UK military charity and service provider in the care of Veterans' mental health.
Last year alone, we received 1,303 new referrals – up 72% since 2005. Over 47% of these Veterans self-referred.
In March 2010 our Patron HRH The Prince of Wales launched our £30 million fundraising campaign – The Enemy Within Appeal.

Through this three-year appeal we aim to help Veterans rebuild their lives by:
- Establishing 14 Community Outreach Teams nationwide made up of Mental Health Practitioners, Community Psychiatric Nurses, and Regional Welfare Officers
- Enhancing clinical treatment at our three short-stay treatment centres in Ayrshire, Shropshire and Surrey
We have a current caseload of over 4,400 Veterans. This includes 102 who have served in Afghanistan and 400 who served in Iraq. The majority of are ex-Army: 82.1%. Our youngest Veteran is 20 and our oldest, 103.
We treat conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, alcohol and/or drug abuse, anxiety and phobic disorders. Our services are free of charge to the Veteran.

On average, it takes 14 years from Service discharge for Veterans to make the first-step approach to Combat Stress for help, by which time their condition is often highly complex.
A May 2010 study (1) into personnel who'd served in Iraq and Afghanistan showed a 4% prevalence of probable PTSD. An estimated 180,000 troops have served in these two operations: if 4% develop PTSD, this equates to 7,200 more sufferers. (The study also highlighted a prevalence of 19.7% for common mental disorders, and 13% for alcohol misuse.)

Of the 30,000 Service men and women who returned from the Falklands, as many as 2,700 are suffering from PTSD. Tragically, we believe, that 300 Falklands Veterans have committed suicide - more then the total killed during that short war.
In the last five years the number of ex-Service men and women in UK prisons has reached 8,500 with another 3,000 on parole (2) – at a cost to society of over £300m per annum (3). Of these Veterans in prison, NAPO estimates that 50% suffer from PTSD and related disorders.
An estimated 5% of the UK's homeless population are Veterans (4).
Combat Stress celebrated our 90th anniversary on 12 May 2009 – and have supported almost 100,000 ex-Service men and women from every campaign that British Forces have been involved in since the First World War.
On 11 January 2010 Combat Stress signed a partnership agreement with the MoD and the Department of Health, resulting in an overarching investment of £350,000. This will help Combat Stress staff to work directly with NHS mental health Trusts to ensure that the services they provide are accessible to and appropriate for military Veterans.