Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Jun:186:536-7.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.186.6.536.

Going to war does not have to hurt: preliminary findings from the British deployment to Iraq

Jamie Hacker Hughes  1 , Fiona Cameron, Rod Eldridge, Madeleine Devon, Simon Wessely, Neil Greenberg
Affiliations

Going to war does not have to hurt: preliminary findings from the British deployment to Iraq

Jamie Hacker Hughes et al. Br J Psychiatry. 2005 Jun.

Abstract

We carried out a brief longitudinal mental health screen of 254 members of the UK's Air Assault Brigade before and after deployment to Iraq last year. Analysis of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) scores before and after deployment revealed a lower score after deployment (mean difference=0.93, 95% CI 0.35-1.52). This indicated a highly significant relative improvement in mental health (P < 0.005). Moreover, only 9 of a larger sample of 421 (2%) exceeded cut-off criteria on the Trauma Screening Questionnaire. These findings suggest that war is not necessarily bad for psychological health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

  • War and psychological health.
    Jhingan HP. Jhingan HP. Br J Psychiatry. 2006 Mar;188:290; author reply 290-1. doi: 10.1192/bjp.188.3.290. Br J Psychiatry. 2006. PMID: 16507975 No abstract available.
  • Going to war always hurts.
    Lepping P. Lepping P. Br J Psychiatry. 2006 Jan;188:83. doi: 10.1192/bjp.188.1.83. Br J Psychiatry. 2006. PMID: 16552942 No abstract available.