UK Military helps Filipino soldiers battle mental health issues

The Royal Navy and Marines joined forces to help provide their much-needed expertise to the Philippines. Our forces aren’t just good at defeating global threats, it seems the two military branches know a thing or two about healing.

The siege of Marawi in the Philippines by the Islamic State led to almost five months of constant battle between troops and the terrorists, leaving over 5,000 troops mentally and physically battered.

Seeing the number of cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on the rise, Manila asked the UK for its help in dealing with the aftermath. This is where the Royal Navy and the Marines come in.

The specialist team that flew to the Philippines is helping the troops recover from their five-month ordeal.

A Navy Spokesperson spoke about the efforts: “The Royal Navy embraces Trauma Risk Management – typically known as TRiM – to help those who’ve been exposed to traumatic incidents and events; it educates someone’s peers to spot the early signs of potentially far more serious psychological issues and offer support.”

With the help of the expert team, soldiers were told how they could provide psychological support to one another and also identify if things were getting worse for someone – in which case, they’d need more professional help.

Strength and toughness are qualities that most of us associate with soldiers; however, thinking of our service personnel as just brute force is not really helping their wellbeing. This is a lesson that Filipino soldiers are also in the process of learning.

This is the reason why so many soldiers suffer in silence. While it’s great that our forces were able to reach out and help one of our allies, it’s important to not lose sight of the fact that many of our own are suffering still.

More efforts are definitely needed so that military personnel don’t just recover physically, but also emotionally.