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Military psychology is a specialist discipline within applied psychology. It entails the application of psychological science to military operations, systems and personnel. The specialty was formally founded during World War I in the UK and the USA, and it was integral to many early concepts and interventions for psychological and neuropsychological trauma. It also established a fundamental basis for the psychological assessment and selection of military personnel. During and after World War II, military psychology continued to make significant contributions to aviation psychology, cognitive testing, rehabilitation psychology and many models of psychotherapy. Military psychology now consists of several subspecialties, including clinical, research and occupational psychology, with the latter often referred to in the USA as industrial/organisational psychology. This article will provide an overview of the origins, history and current composition of military psychology in the UK, with select international illustrations also being offered., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Military personnel exposed to potentially traumatic events whilst deployed on operational duties may develop psychological problems. The Royal Marines have made extensive use of Trauma Risk Management (TRiM), a peer-support system that operates through practitioners embedded within operational units. TRiM aims to promote recognition of psychological illness and to facilitate social support., Aims: To evaluate the effects of TRiM in two units at different stages of implementation., Methods: Royal Marines and Army personnel were surveyed prior to, during and upon return from an operational deployment to Afghanistan. Participants completed measures of general mental health (GHQ12) and traumatic stress [PCL(C)]., Results: We received responses from 180 pre-deployment, 105 during deployment and 137 post-deployment. Personnel within units with experience of TRiM reported lower levels of psychological distress than personnel in the unit who were using TRiM for the first time. Both groups reported higher psychological distress scores before and during deployment, compared with post-deployment. However, we found personnel who reported having more access to social support during deployment reported less psychological distress., Conclusions: The use of TRiM may assist in increasing the psychological resilience of military personnel through the facilitation of social support; this may have particular utility during operational deployments.

Background: There is considerable interest in understanding further the factors that increase the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for military personnel. This study aimed to investigate the relative contribution of demographic variables; childhood adversity; the nature of exposure to traumatic events during deployment; appraisal of these experiences; and home-coming experiences in relation to the prevalence of PTSD 'caseness' as measured by a score of 50 on the PTSD Checklist (PCL) in UK Armed Forces personnel who have been deployed in Iraq since 2003., Method: Data were drawn from the first stage of a retrospective cohort study comparing UK military personnel who were deployed to the 2003 Iraq War with personnel serving in the UK Armed Forces on 31 March 2003 but who were not deployed to the initial phase of war fighting. Participants were randomly selected and invited to participate. The response rate was 61%. We have limited these analyses to 4762 regular service individuals who responded to the survey and who have been deployed in Iraq since 2003., Results: Post-traumatic stress symptoms were associated with lower rank, being unmarried, having low educational attainment and a history of childhood adversity. Exposure to potentially traumatizing events, in particular being deployed to a 'forward' area in close contact with the enemy, was associated with post-traumatic stress symptoms. Appraisals of the experience as involving threat to one's own life and a perception that work in theatre was above an individual's trade and experience were strongly associated with post-traumatic stress symptoms. Low morale and poor social support within the unit and non-receipt of a home-coming brief (psycho-education) were associated with greater risk of post-traumatic stress symptoms., Conclusions: Personal appraisal of threat to life during the trauma emerged as the most important predictor of post-traumatic stress symptoms. These results also raise the possibility that there are important modifiable occupational factors such as unit morale, leadership, preparing combatants for their role in theatre which may influence an individual's risk of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Therefore interventions focused on systematic preparation of personnel for the extreme stress of combat may help to lessen the psychological impact of deployment.

Objective: to measure the perceptions of military staff of the impact of wearing military uniform on the therapeutic relationship with mental health clients., Method: a brief questionnaire was distributed to all military clinicians in Departments of Community Mental Health to measure their attitudes., Results: there was a 67.9% (n=70) response rate regarding the impact of uniform on the therapeutic relationship. 20% of responses were positive, 31% negative, 37% mixed and 12% gave no answer., Conclusion: there was no clear pre-existing literature on this issue. Overall, the wearing of uniform appeared to be perceived positively positive. There is a need to assess clients' points of view in future studies.

Objectives: To examine the pattern of out-patient mental health care referrals for military personnel deployed to the Falklands Islands, 1986-96., Methods: Data from referral books of British Military Community Mental Health Nurses based in the Falkland Islands were abstracted, entered into an electronic database and analysed., Results: Over the period 1986-96, 538 Service personnel were referred to the mental health out-patient facility on the Falkland Islands. The majority were male (96%) and junior ranks (81%). Approximately a third of patients were referred for reasons relating to alcohol (31%) and for over two-thirds of patients no follow-up was required (68%). Differences were observed by Service with the Army having more referrals due to alcohol than the other two Services, whilst the Navy had more deliberate self-harm referrals and the RAF more referrals for anxiety., Conclusions: The lack of information on the total population deployed to the Falkland Islands over this period limits the interpretation of the results.