{"id":662322,"date":"2026-10-22T18:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T18:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/662322\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T18:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T18:18:09","slug":"most-defence-forces-personnel-fear-mental-health-disclosure-could-harm-careers-study-finds-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/662322\/","title":{"rendered":"Most Defence Forces personnel fear mental health disclosure could harm careers, study finds \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Defence Forces<\/a> deputy chief of staff support has said he did \u201cnot accept\u201d research presented to an Oireachtas committee that indicated a reluctance among personnel to seek mental health<\/a> support, saying it was \u201cnot my experience\u201d.<\/p>\n

A study that identified \u201csignificant psychological distress\u201d within the organisation, according to its author, was presented to the Oireachtas defence committee on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

Conducted by Dan Fitzpatrick, who served in the Defence Forces for more than 22 years, the study involved a survey of 687 serving personnel across the Army<\/a>, Naval Service<\/a> and Air Corps<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It found that almost all respondents (94 per cent) believed disclosing a mental health difficulty could negatively affect their military career.<\/p>\n

Just 22 per cent of respondents indicated they would make such a disclosure to seek medical support.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis presents a fundamental organisation contradiction. We encourage personnel to recognise psychological difficulties and seek appropriate support, yet the research indicates that many perceive that act of disclosure itself as a potential threat to their professional future.<\/p>\n

\u201cA person can recognise their psychological distress, understand the benefits of treatment and still make the calculated decision not to seek help,\u201d Fitzpatrick told committee members.<\/p>\n

The survey, which was carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic and was published this year, saw 34 per cent of respondents report having had suicidal thoughts, while 10 per cent reported previously engaging in self-harm. <\/p>\n

A quarter also screened positive for probable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Fitzpatrick said.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Se\u00e1n Rooney preliminary inquest hearings private \u2018to protect safety of Defence Forces\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Sixty one respondents (9 per cent) said they had made a previous suicide attempt, with Fitzpatrick arguing these individuals were \u201cinvisible to the organisation\u201d.<\/p>\n

He told the committee the medical grading system was one of the \u201clargest barriers\u201d to personnel seeking support, saying they receive an \u201cautomatic downgrade\u201d once they present with a mental health issue.<\/p>\n

Those who receive such downgrades cannot go overseas and, in some circumstances, are removed from the organisation, he said.<\/p>\n

Though he was not asking to \u201cabolish\u201d the system, he said restrictions should be proportionate, periodically reviewed and linked to recovery.<\/p>\n

During a separate session on Thursday, Defence Forces deputy chief of staff support Colm \u00d3 Luasa was asked by Independent Senator Tom Clonan, a former Defence Forces member, about the findings.<\/p>\n

\u00d3 Luasa said stigma was \u201cnot a Defence Forces issue\u201d but a \u201csocietal issue\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Minister wants role for Irish Navy in EU mission targeting Russia shadow fleetOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing a lot of work towards stigma reduction within the Defence Forces,\u201d he added, saying the need to reduce stigma was not \u201cunique to us\u201d.<\/p>\n

Asked by Clonan if he believed the 94 per cent figure was representative of the general population, \u00d3 Luasa said: \u201cI don\u2019t recognise that figure. It\u2019s not my experience,\u201d adding that he did not \u201crecognise that level of reluctance\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not bearing recognition in terms of our experience as an organisation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this regard, I don\u2019t accept it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00d3 Luasa said the Defence Forces delivers training and education in mental health that is based on \u201cinternationally-recognised best practice\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important [to] point out here that we recognise the issue of stigma and we continue to work to reduce that stigma,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Defence Forces officers earning as little as \u20ac4 an hour for working overtimeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

David Lyons, officer in charge of the Defence Forces personnel support services, told the committee he had made contact with Fitzpatrick about the research, saying there was information that was \u201cuseful and could inform future policy\u201d.<\/p>\n

Separately, Dr Iseult Coolahan, head of clinical delivery, said the purpose of medical classification was \u201cnot punitive\u201d but to allow the Defence Forces to \u201ckeep functioning, but also allow that person time to heal\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vast majority do not end up being downgraded and losing their jobs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Defence Forces deputy chief of staff support has said he did \u201cnot accept\u201d research presented to an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[81336,13308,103,61,60,93447,4187,410,411],"class_list":["post-662322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-air-corps","tag-defence-forces","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-army","tag-irish-naval-service","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}