Afghan veterans urged to seek support
Ongoing events in Afghanistan are reportedly affecting UK veterans who have served there
Clinicians in the UK are already starting to see the effects of Afghanistan's collapse on British veterans who served there.
Dr. Nick Addick is the Deputy Director at the Veterans and Families Institute of Anglia Ruskin University: "I think we're particularly likely to see an increase in moral injury amongst veterans".
Moral injury occurs amongst veterans when they begin pondering whether in the wider political context, of the war they took part in, was a just war, according to Dr. Caddick. Because there is no clear answer to the question, it causes significant anxiety among ex-soldiers.
Another source of worry amongst veterans has to do with the desperate situation that Afghan interpreters and staff who helped the British army there.
"I know from my colleagues and through social media that there are also veterans who are extremely anxious and concerned about Afghans who they served with", he adds.
In order to cope with these issues, Dr. Caddick is urging veterans to speak to other ex-soldiers they know, who they served with.
"We often find peer support, talking to someone else who has had the same experience is very powerful".
This is a sentiment that Prince Harry expressed in a statement for Invictus Games, yesterday. The statement called for the wider military community to reach out and offer support to each other.
Apart from this, Dr. Caddick also encourages veterans to seek support from organisations like Combat Stress and other such charity networks set up to help them.
"Veterans in need can find these networks by googling the contact armed forces website and will be lead to the appropriate links there", he adds.