title: A review of United Kingdom Armed Forces' approaches to prevent post-deployment mental health problems.
abstract: There is now an abundance of research which has demonstrated that military personnel who deploy on operations are at increased risk of suffering a variety of mental health difficulties in the immediate and long-term post-deployment period. One consequence of these research findings has been the development of a variety of programmes which attempt to mitigate the increased psychological risk and to assist personnel who are returning from a deployment to make a smooth transition home. Using a three-tiered prevention model, this article reviews some of the key post-deployment issues facing the UK Armed Forces and highlights the recent interventions which have been put in place to promote successful adjustment in the early post-deployment period. The paper is based upon research identified through a thorough literature search for studies which focused on this area and included a recognized measure of mental health as an outcome. The paper focuses on three main areas; psychological decompression, psycho-education and screening. The current philosophical approaches to post-deployment mental health problems of some of the UK's coalition partners are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health, Academic Dept of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Cutcombe Road, London, UK. mohammed.fertout@kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fertout
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mulligan
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wessely
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008603:Mental Health; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology