More should be done to help former members of the armed forces cope with civilian life, charities will say.
The Scottish Association for Mental Health and Poppy Scotland will make the call at the first event in Scotland to examine the mental health of veterans. Organisations looking after former service personnel said they were increasingly seeing cases of addictions and serious mental health problems. They are calling for medical treatment to be provided more promptly. More than 30 charities and voluntary organisations in Scotland look after the needs of former service personnel. One charity, Combat Stress, last year treated 428 veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. William Sutherland, a speaker at the event who took part in the naval campaign in the Falklands in 1982, said it could take up to 15 years before a mental health issue was properly diagnosed and treated.
The Royal Navy veteran who also fought in the Gulf War in 1991, said: “Post-traumatic stress disorder has had some cost to me.