Image used for representational purpose. AFP
London: A couple of hundred female members of the UK armed forces have been “misdiagnosed” with various personality disorders after they reported their sexual assaults at the hands of their colleagues to the department.
According to a report by The Telegraph, the victims of sexual abuse said that after they sought help from the military’s departments of community mental health (DCMH), they were “written off” with emotional disorders. The women were later eventually medically discharged.
The shocking revelation comes after it was reported that the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst was urged to tackle a “toxic culture” of sexual assault following the testimonies of several servicewomen.
The chief executive of Salute Her UK, a charity organisation working to assist military women who have experienced sexual assault, Paula Edwards said that victims are being “overdiagnosed or misdiagnosed” to get rid of the problem.
‘A common theme’
Edwards said that the issue is a “common theme” among servicewomen who access support from her charity to have the diagnosis written on their medical records.
“It is a worrying pattern. A woman is raped so she goes to DCMH. She’s understandably all over the place. She might be suicidal. But instead of the medical practitioner seeing it as post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], they diagnose her with a personality disorder,” she said.
Edwards added, “You can’t serve in the military with this diagnosis, which enables the military to get rid of the problem.”
Notably, out of 393 referrals Salute UK received for assistance, 133 women under the age of 27 were misdiagnosed with personality disorders.
Female soldier shares her experience
In the initial days of her career in the army, an unnamed female soldier was raped by one of her colleagues. Following her harrowing experience, she sought DCMH’s help and was in turn offered cognitive behavioural therapy which the soldier did not find helpful.
She claims that there was no “Plan B” after her therapy sessions had ended. She was later told that she had been diagnosed with a personality disorder.
“At first, I didn’t even know what the diagnosis was. I had to Google it. I was surprised because I did not show these symptoms or repetitive behaviours and I was doing very well in my career before I was informed that I would be discharged,” she told The Telegraph.
“Once you get this on your record, you can’t get it off and it has impacted my life,” she added.
With inputs from agencies
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