We’re here to help you through your military mental health claim

Serving in the Armed Forces can be incredibly demanding and intense, whether you serve in the Army, Navy, RAF or Special Forces, as either a Regular or a Reserve. While the Ministry of Defence has made great strides in improving the support for mental health, psychological injuries such as PTSD, depression and anxiety can be quite common, and it is vital that you get right support and treatment.

What is PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition caused by distressing and traumatic events and can be common among those serving in the military. It can cause severe depression and leave sufferers unable to continue living their lives in the way they did before the trauma occurred.

Today, PTSD is recognised as a serious condition, and it can be a fairly common problem for military personnel and veterans to experience.

What are the symptoms of PTSD?

The symptoms of PTSD can vary from person to person, so everyone’s experience of the condition will be different. However, some of the most common symptoms include:

• Flashbacks
• Problems with sleep, including insomnia or nightmares
• Struggling in crowds
• Anxiety and paranoia
• Issues with anger
• Physical symptoms, including pain, sweating, nausea or trembling

Can I make a military mental health or PTSD claim?

While danger is inherent in combat operations, you may be eligible to claim compensation for mental health injuries under certain circumstances, such as where:

• Extreme danger resulted from negligence
• Reasonable precautions weren't taken
• Officers failed to recognise the symptoms of your mental health injury (including depression, anxiety and PTSD)
• Medical Officers failed to correctly diagnose your mental health injury

If you believe that your PTSD resulted from these or other failings by others, you owe it to yourself to talk to one of our military claims solicitors today.

How can compensation for mental illness or PTSD help?

There are two ways in which compensation can help you. Firstly, it can help to compensate you for loss of earnings, if your symptoms are preventing you from working and earning as much as you would be able to without a mental health injury.

Just as importantly, there are a number of therapies that are proven to alleviate the symptoms of PTSD and other mental health injuries, and any compensation claim we undertake on your behalf will include a sum to help pay for rehabilitation treatments including:

• Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR): helps to prevent difficult memories from causing stress by helping the brain to reprocess them
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): helps you to come to terms with bad experiences by changing the way you see them
• Group Psychotherapy: helps you to deal with difficult memories by confronting them in the company of a group that has shared similar experiences.

Can I claim under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS)?

If you have served in the UK Army, Navy, RAF, Special Forces both Regular or in the Reserves and are suffering from PTSD because of your service, you may be able to claim compensation under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS).

The AFCS is a government scheme, managed by Veterans UK, to provide compensation to military personnel and veterans for any injury, illness or death caused by service on or after 6th April 2005.

To make a claim through the scheme, you’ll need to be able to prove that your injury or condition was caused by your service in the military. However, because it is a ‘no fault’ scheme, there’s no need to prove that negligence by the MoD was responsible. Any compensation paid from the scheme comes from a separate budget, so no money is diverted away from front line services.

Why choose our mental health and PTSD lawyers?

We know the impact that mental health injuries such as PTSD can have on a person’s life, and the importance of being able to access the support and treatment you need to help you move forward. We have worked with numerous clients who have suffered due to PTSD, including Steve, a former 1 Rifles Infantry soldier who served in Afghanistan.

Slater and Gordon will provide a sympathetic, professional and honest approach to people who come to us with military PTSD or other mental health injuries. We have a long-standing connection with military personnel, and all our cases are handled by specialists with a great deal of experience in dealing with military injury cases.

Our dedicated military injury solicitors are headed up by Natasha Orr, Senior Associate and an APIL (Association of Personal Injury Solicitors) accredited Senior Litigator, as well as a former member of the Armed Forces. She also has first-hand experience being the spouse of a service person, and the unique demands and difficulties this carries. Her first-hand experience gives her an extensive understanding of the challenges faced by military personnel and fuels her passion for assisting the military community.

Our military law team have received numerous accolades and recognition across the legal industry, such as Chambers and Partners and Legal 500. We work closely with several charities, such as HASAG and Mesothelioma UK, who provide a specific service for military personnel diagnosed with mesothelioma.