The Australian defence force will commission a project looking at how “moral injuries”, or events which jar with the ethical and religious beliefs of military personnel, impact on mental health.
On Monday defence chiefs appeared before a Senate committee examining the prevalence of mental illness and suicide among ADF members.
The defence for chief, Mark Binskin, told senators that the organisation had spent more than $162.5m on mental health programs since 2009.
In any given 12 months, about 8% of serving personnel will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but “only half of these will seek help” for the illness, Binskin said.
The ADF is particularly looking at ways to improve early intervention of personnel or veterans with mental health problems.
One of the newest areas of research is that of “moral injuries”. The US marine corps has pioneered research into the area, which the vice chief of the defence force, Ray Griggs, labelled “important work”.
“Moral injuries” occur when an event or action goes against an individual’s ethical, religious or cultural beliefs, and can bring on feelings of shame, guilt and anxiety. It can prolong and deepen the impacts of trauma.
“This is a concept very much worth exploring. It’s still emerging, as you know. But intuitively we know that there is something to this,” Griggs said.
“We think it is actually quite important work,” Griggs said, adding that the ADF would commission work by a former Anglican bishop to the ADF, Tom Frame, on the concept. “We want to get a project going for the ADF.”
The force would work towards a scoping study on defining exactly what “moral injury” entailed.
The Senate inquiry heard that work still needed to be done to reintegrate personnel who are suffering from mental illness back into the force.
“What we’re seeing in current times is that around 55% of those who present with mental health issues are being rehabilitated and recovering and going back to work,” Binskin said. “Physical injuries are running at about 72% to 75%.
“So it’s not as good as the physical injuries, but it’s what we’re aiming to work towards.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) cited research conducted in 2010 that found that over 50% of personnel who presented with PTSD had never been deployed in battle.
The commander of joint health for the ADF, Robyn Walker, admitted that the statistic seemed “incongruous” to many people, but said PTSD was complex and affected individuals differently.
“We have people [who enter the ADF] who are risk-takers,” Walker said. “They are most likely to be exposed to events that may cause them trauma.”
PTSD could be brought on by the “cumulative burden” of several traumatic events in a row, and often could present decades after trauma had occurred.
Lisa Foreman from the DVA said defence force personnel may not be able to process trauma when it happened outside of deployment.
“[When you’re deployed] you’re in a mind frame where you are more mentally resilient,” Foreman said.
But she acknowledged deployment did increase the chances of being exposed to a traumatic event.
DVA spent $182m on mental health treatment in 2014-15, on top of what was spent by the ADF.
The chief operating officer of the department, Shane Carmody, said very little was known about how many veterans take their own lives when they are no longer in the force.
DVA was notified of a suicide only if the family put in a compensation claim.
The department has been pushing to have comprehensive statistics on military involvement included in the census, but was told by the bureau of statistics that the population represented by such a move would be too small.
As a result, the full impact of military suicides are “not statistically clear”, Carmody said.
The chief of army, Angus Campbell, denied allegations that the ADF was trying to downplay the prevalence of mental illness within its ranks.
“Army absolutely does not want to sweep under the carpet the issue of mental health,” Campbell said.
Binskin has appointed a one-star general to “conduct a systemic review into suicide and related issues in the ADF”.
The review would consider implementing role models and ambassadors for mental health.
“I think that’s a good thing,” Binskin said.
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Anyone contemplating suicide or self-harm can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
