Mental woes soar for women in fatigues

By Sean Parnell, Sarah Elks
Female troops returning from overseas deployments have been referred for mental health treatment at double the rate of their male comrades, despite not serving in the same high-level combat roles.
Amid the ongoing sex row and the decision to open all combat roles to women, a Defence study has found women require more follow-up psychological care than men.
The study of more than 16,000 Defence members deployed on several different operations between January 2003 and August 2006 found 3.4 per cent required follow-up care after their Return to Australia Psychological Screening.
But the rate among women was higher than average: in the navy, 6.4 per cent of women were referred, compared with 5 per cent of men; in the army, 5 per of women were referred, compared with 3 per cent of men; in the air force 4.3 per cent of women were referred, compared with 1.9 per cent of men.
About 93 per cent of all jobs in the military are currently open to women. Defence Minister Stephen Smith on Monday said the bar on the remaining 7 per cent, mostly in infantry and armoured units, would be eliminated subject to women achieving the same physical standards as men.
Women are also under-represented in the military, and previous work by Defence has identified their level of physical fitness, and ignorance about life in the armed services, as key barriers to recruitment.
In the study, the highest rate of referrals for mental health treatment came from women in the navy, and further analysis revealed they were younger than other groups, with fewer years of service, and less likely to be married, in a de facto relationship, or have children. Not all referrals were a result of their deployment.
Heidi Matulich, 27, served in the army for nearly seven years as a soldier, chef and physical training instructor. She left when she discovered she was pregnant, just before she was to be deployed to East Timor.
But she was adamant her former female colleagues, especially those deployed overseas, were as mentally tough as the men. “They adjusted quite well and they came back a lot stronger,” she said. “There was no one who melted down. But they weren’t at the front line, they were radio controllers.”
Like all army recruits, Ms Matulich — who enlisted five days after she left school at 17 — endured the mentally and physically gruelling 80-day basic training at Kapooka in NSW. “I don’t think we had a disadvantage at all.”
Article from The Australian, April 14, 2011.
