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Mental health initiatives for veterans and serving personnel

John A Cooper, Mark C Creamer and David Forbes
Med J Aust 2006; 185 (8): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00646.x
Published online: 16 October 2006

It often falls to general practitioners to identify and manage service-related mental health problems

It has long been recognised that veterans may experience mental health problems after military deployments, and that these can be overlooked in the context of concern about physical injuries. Primary care practitioners, both military and civilian, are often the first port of call for affected veterans, and are best positioned to assess these patients and commence care when necessary. As over 85% of Australia’s trained forces are male, these health problems are particularly relevant for men’s health.


  • Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC.


Correspondence: markcc@unimelb.edu.au

  • 1. Hoge CW, Auchterlonie JL, Milliken CS. Mental health problems, use of mental health services, and attrition from military service after returning from deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. JAMA 2006; 295: 1023-1032.
  • 2. Hotopf M, Hull L, Fear NT, et al. The health of UK military personnel who deployed to the 2003 Iraq war: a cohort study. Lancet 2006; 367: 1731-1741.
  • 3. Ikin JF, Sim MR, Creamer MC, et al. War-related psychological stressors and risk of psychological disorders in Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. Br J Psychiatry 2004; 185: 116-126.
  • 4. Creamer M, Morris P, Biddle D, Elliott P. Treatment outcome in Australian veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder: a cause for cautious optimism? J Trauma Stress 1999; 12: 545-558.

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