Rise in mental illness among British veterans after leaving Afghanistan

A former British military psychiatrist has reported an increase in mental illness among British veterans since leaving Afghanistan.According to IA AAA, Walter Busuttil said that British veterans who participated in the operation to withdraw troops from Afghanistan suffer from mental illness.As director of research at the Veterans Institute for Stress and Mental Health, Busuttil raised the issue in a documentary program in the UK.

In this documentary, British soldiers talk about having to refuse to evacuate Afghans who pleaded with them because they were not eligible for British support.Bussuttil also said, "Traumatic stress can result from missions in which the armed forces are faced with an unresolvable dilemma because of the orders given to them."Richard Michael, who served in the British paratroopers, said: "When I was in Afghanistan, I knew that something had changed inside me."

A British psychiatrist does not consider the reaction of veterans "abnormal". “We are very bad,” many of them told him.According to Busuttil, these veterans believe that their presence in Afghanistan was not only a waste of time, but the way they left is disappointing.Previously, relatively similar reports were published about the mental illness of American soldiers and some other countries present in Afghanistan.

The United States and its allies attacked this country on October 7, 2001 under the pretext of fighting terrorism and ensuring security in Afghanistan.After 20 years of occupation, committing countless crimes, destroying the economic and medical infrastructure, American troops left Afghanistan in disgrace and defeat at the end of August 2021.