Unseen warriors: Understanding female veterans’ mental health challenges
Do female veterans underutilize healthcare resources?
A recent study titled “I don’t feel like that’s for me: Overcoming barriers to mental healthcare for women veterans,” presented at a conference in Cambridge, sheds light on why female veterans are underutilizing mental health support services. The Centre for Military Women’s Research (CMWR) at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is researching the difficulties ex-servicewomen have in accessing specialized mental health care.
The conference, a first in the United Kingdom, focused on sexual violence in the military and featured international perspectives. The study is particularly relevant given the significant presence of female veterans in England and Wales, who constitute 13.6% of the 1.85 million veteran population. However, the research shows that many of these women are not receiving adequate care from the current mental health frameworks, which frequently ignore the particular difficulties they face.
The research team conducted interviews with 48 women veterans and 12 mental health professionals in England, all of whom had encountered mental health issues within the past five years. The study was inclusive, involving these women in developing guidelines for mental health services tailored to their specific needs.
Key findings from the report show that the mental health challenges faced by women veterans are diverse, extending beyond combat or deployment-related issues. The study identifies several barriers to accessing veteran-specific mental health support, including difficulty identifying with the term ‘veteran’, unawareness of available support, perceived insensitivity of services to women’s needs, and the male-centric branding of these services. Moreover, practical challenges, such as caregiving responsibilities, further hinder access.
Personal testimonies from veterans underscore these findings. For instance, a Royal Air Force veteran, who served from 1989 to 1996, only recently began to see herself as a veteran, affecting her pursuit of military-related support.
“It was only recently that I viewed myself as a veteran, so I kind of dismissed anything to do with the military in terms of accessing any support.”
An Army veteran who served from 1999–2002 expressed concern about the inability of military support organizations to understand and address her experiences of sexual assault and harassment.
“(Support organizations were) not going to be able to understand me talking about my sexual assault, sexual harassment, or discrimination. And it would almost feel like that organization as a whole would be rolling their eyes on the end of the phone,” she said.
Lauren Godier-McBard, principal investigator and co-director of CMWR at ARU, highlighted that women veterans face mental health challenges stemming from various factors, including discrimination, sexual violence, identity crises, and caring responsibilities, all linked to their military service and transition into civilian life.
“Our report found that women veterans experienced mental health challenges for many reasons related to both their military service and transition into civilian life, from facing discrimination or sexual violence in their service role, to struggling with identity or caring responsibilities,” Godier-McBard said. “It appears from the interviews we carried out that many ex-servicewomen feel they fall through the gaps between mental health services for civilians and military veterans. Many did not identify with the word ‘veteran’, considering it to be a male label or preferring to identify with the various other roles in their life, such as being a parent.”
Abigail Wood, the report’s lead author, emphasizes the need for greater visibility of women in service branding and materials.
“There are plenty of services that offer support to women veterans, and hopefully this report will assist those services and veterans themselves to ensure that more people reach out for mental health help,” Wood said.
She also notes the importance of clinicians understanding the distinct military experiences of women, advocating for the choice of gender-specific clinicians and the option of women-only treatment groups.
Patricia Price, an Army veteran and ARU peer researcher, calls for a deeper understanding and support for women veterans, emphasizing their right to be seen, heard, and respected equally, without bias.
“What all women veterans want is to be seen and heard, without pre-judgement, without a tick box and without being seen as the cause of the issue they need support to resolve. We are equally as deserving of support, recognition and respect as each and every other professional member of the Armed Forces and each and every other Armed Forces Veteran is.
“Women in the Armed Forces are entitled to a successful and fulfilling veteran life. We simply must do better for them.”
