U.K. soldiers in Iraq studied for stress

Psychologists say just over one in five servicemen in Iraq showed signs of psychological distress while less than 4 percent showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

The levels are the same as service personnel in training and less that other high-stress occupations like law enforcement and emergency medicine, the study by researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London said.

Although the mental health of U.K. armed forces personnel has been researched both before and after deployment, little was known about their level of psychological stress during deployment, one researcher said.

"Interestingly, those who told us they remembered having a pre-deployment stress briefing reported significantly better mental health than those who did not," Professor Neil Greenberg from the Academic Center for Defense Mental Health said.

Training for military medical staff has begun to help them recognize mental health disorders, Greenberg said.

"Improving training, as well as raising awareness among staff of the link between these personnel reporting sick and having poorer mental health, may help identify those in most need of psychological help," he said.

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