The article under analysis is a scientific paper, “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on treatment-seeking veterans in the United Kingdom with preexisting mental health difficulties: a longitudinal study”, that describes a research conducted by Hendrikx et al. (2021, p. 1). The authors address the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of veterans from the United Kingdom who have already have mental disorders that require treatment. The significance of this study is determined by a disturbing issue of mental health deterioration among millions of people all over the world under the influence of COVID-19.
As a global pandemic, the coronavirus disease that had emerged in March 2020 led to various degrees of restrictions imposed by countries worldwide in order to minimize the risk of infection. These restrictions range from social distancing that presupposes the maintenance of physical space between people to compete lockdowns, including business and school closures, remote studying and working, and “little-to-no contact with individuals outside one’s household” (Hendrikx et al., 2021, p. 1). On the one hand, these measures are justified by a necessity to reduce the number of contacts between people that contribute to the spread of the virus. On the other hand, COVID-19-associated restrictions have substantially affected the general population’s mental health and increased the level of psychological distress. At the same time, the impact of the pandemic on people with preexisting psychological issues remains unclear and attracts particular attention. Thus, the purpose of this research is to evaluate how the coronavirus-related restrictive measures impact veterans whose mental health has already required treatment.
In general, a considerable number of United Kingdom veterans have already experienced psychological issues due to their past experience and occupation. 6,2%, 21.9%, and 10% of them have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression, and substance misuse, respectively (Hendrikx et al., 2021, p. 2). Thus, these people may be particularly vulnerable to the further deterioration of their mental health due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The examination of the restrictions’ impact may determine whether additional support to veterans is required to prevent more dramatic outcomes.
The study’s participants were randomly selected via the United Kingdom charity that provides sufficient psychological support to veterans with already existing mental health difficulties. The majority of recruited participants were male, of 51-60 years old, from Royal Navy, working before the pandemic, not living alone, and in a relationship (Hendrikx et al., 2021, p. 2). The longitudinal study was conducted “during the period between two national lockdowns” (Hendrikx et al., 2021, p. 1). Measures concerning the symptoms of PTSD, alcohol use, and common mental health difficulties, including anger and depression, were done using patient’s general health questionnaire in two waves – after the first lockdown and during the second one. Data analysis was conducted with the use of STATA (Version 13.0), multiple logistic regressions, and a multivariate logistic regression model to explore the connection of COVID-19–related and sociodemographic factors with mental health deterioration.
According to the results, veterans’ characteristics and their attitude to COVID-19 responsive measures did not significantly affect their mental health. No considerable changes in PTSD symptoms, alcohol use, depression, and anger were initially detected (Hendrikx et al., 2021, p. 4). However, participants who experienced a lack of social support and more pandemic-related stress factors demonstrated increased anger and anxiety difficulties. Thus, regardless of the fact that veterans’ mental health generally remains stable, COVID-19-related stressors and a lack of support may lead to its deterioration.
The expediency of this informative research is determined by the identified issue of mental health disorders among veterans in the United Kingdom. According to the Centre for Mental Health (2020, par. 4), “the most common mental health problems for ex-Service personnel are alcohol problems, depression and anxiety disorder,” especially among those ones who were in combat roles. In turn, the United Kingdom government undertakes all efforts to provide mental wellbeing support to veterans as their psychological issues may lead to negative consequence for them, their family members, and people around them. Thus, people with mental health conditions related to military service have a right for priority treatment (Veterans seeking mental wellbeing support, 2020, par. 4). Moreover, constantly occurring additional mental health services available for veterans receive substantial funding (Veterans’ mental health services to receive £2.7 million boost, 2021, par. 1). Local organizations and charities provide support for veterans’ needs, including finances, accommodation, employment, relationships, and social support (NHS, 2021, par. 12). Finally, researches conduct multiple studies, including the one under analysis, to assess veterans’ mental health in challenging situation to provide new responsive measures or correct existing ones.
At the same time, there are other studies that aim to evaluate the influence of the pandemic on veterans’ mental health. The major study was conducted by King’s College London and sponsored by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) (EUROMIL, no date, par. 1; New study to understand effect of COVID-19 on veterans, 2020, par. 1). According to its results, veterans are affected by the pandemic-related restrictions being vulnerable to stress, alcohol use, and loneliness (Sharp et al., 2021, p. 1). However, veterans are impacted in the same way as ordinary people – in other way, their state remains relatively stable (King’s College London, 2021, par. 2). Moreover, in some cases, veterans express more resilience due to previous training. Nevertheless, constant monitoring of the situation is necessary as not all veterans efficiently utilize mental health care (Graziano and Elbogen, 2017, p. 359). The needs of those veterans who believe that they are responsible for their issues should be addressed as well.
In the present day, mental health deterioration has already become a global health issue associated with the pandemic. In the United Kingdom, mental health has worsened particularly among women and young adults (Bank and Xu, 2020, p. 1). The increase of mental health disorder related to COVID-19 restrictions are observed and investigated in Canada, Denmark, China, Bangladesh, and other countries (Jenkins et al., 2021, p. 1; Sønderskov et al., 2020, p. 226; Wang et al., 2020, p. 40; Zhou et al., 2020, p. 574; Das et al., 2021, p. 1). In general, women, adolescents, children senior adults, people with preexisting mental health issues, homeless individuals, prisoners, and the Asians may be regarded as the most vulnerable population groups (Douglas et al., 2020, p. 2; UNICEF, 2021, par. 3). Major stressors include longer quarantine duration, frustration, boredom, infection fears, inadequate information, inadequate supplies, stigma, and financial loss (Brooks et al., 2020, p. 912). It goes without saying that mental health issues among the global population urgently require responsive measures, mostly associated with the activities of social support facilities.
To conclude, the article that describes research conducted by Hendrikx et al. (2021, p. 1) may be regarded as a highly comprehensive and informative work, which significance is undeniable. Regardless of previous training, veterans are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19-related stressors that negatively impact their already deteriorated mental health (Murphy et al., 2020, p. 1). Even the mildest symptoms of issues include fear, sadness, frustration and anger (CDC, 2021, par. 3). In addition, veterans with mental health disorders demonstrate poorer outcomes of treatment (Murphy et al., 2017, p. 654). Thus, further investigations in this sphere and the monitoring of the situation are required for its control and more efficient responsive measures.
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