‘Man up and get on with it’: a qualitative exploration of UK ex-serving personnel’s experiences of seeking help for self-harm and suicidal behaviours
Background: A substantial proportion of UK military personnel experiencing mental health problems do not seek professional support. Although the promotion of help-seeking is a key suicide prevention strategy, little is known about help-seeking for self-harm and suicidal behaviours among the UK Armed...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
|
| Series: | European Journal of Psychotraumatology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2025.2480990 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849735546773962752 |
|---|---|
| author | Charlotte Williamson Walter Busuttil Amos Simms Laura Palmer Sharon A. M. Stevelink Marie-Louise Sharp |
| author_facet | Charlotte Williamson Walter Busuttil Amos Simms Laura Palmer Sharon A. M. Stevelink Marie-Louise Sharp |
| author_sort | Charlotte Williamson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: A substantial proportion of UK military personnel experiencing mental health problems do not seek professional support. Although the promotion of help-seeking is a key suicide prevention strategy, little is known about help-seeking for self-harm and suicidal behaviours among the UK Armed Forces.Objective: This study aimed to explore UK ex-serving personnel’s experiences of seeking help for self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts.Method: Participants were recruited via an existing longitudinal cohort study exploring the health and well-being of the UK Armed Forces. A subgroup of ex-serving personnel reporting lifetime self-harm and/or suicidal behaviours was invited to participate in semi-structured interviews and 15 individuals participated, representing help-seekers/non-help-seekers and formal/informal support. Interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.Results: Five distinct but related and interacting themes were developed: (1) military mindset; (2) stigma; (3) fear of consequences; (4) access to and awareness of support; and (5) facilitators to help-seeking.Conclusions: Help-seeking decisions and experiences were influenced by several barriers and facilitators. Providing an environment where military populations feel willing and able to access support for self-harm and suicidal behaviours could lessen the impact on their health and well-being and ultimately save lives. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a6ce2c80e27a4e22a9252e236700cfb1 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2000-8066 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of Psychotraumatology |
| spelling | doaj-art-a6ce2c80e27a4e22a9252e236700cfb12025-08-20T03:07:32ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEuropean Journal of Psychotraumatology2000-80662025-12-0116110.1080/20008066.2025.2480990‘Man up and get on with it’: a qualitative exploration of UK ex-serving personnel’s experiences of seeking help for self-harm and suicidal behavioursCharlotte Williamson0Walter Busuttil1Amos Simms2Laura Palmer3Sharon A. M. Stevelink4Marie-Louise Sharp5King’s Centre for Military Health Research, King’s College London, London, UKKing’s Centre for Military Health Research, King’s College London, London, UKAcademic Department for Military Mental Health, King’s College London, London, UKKing’s Centre for Military Health Research, King’s College London, London, UKKing’s Centre for Military Health Research, King’s College London, London, UKKing’s Centre for Military Health Research, King’s College London, London, UKBackground: A substantial proportion of UK military personnel experiencing mental health problems do not seek professional support. Although the promotion of help-seeking is a key suicide prevention strategy, little is known about help-seeking for self-harm and suicidal behaviours among the UK Armed Forces.Objective: This study aimed to explore UK ex-serving personnel’s experiences of seeking help for self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts.Method: Participants were recruited via an existing longitudinal cohort study exploring the health and well-being of the UK Armed Forces. A subgroup of ex-serving personnel reporting lifetime self-harm and/or suicidal behaviours was invited to participate in semi-structured interviews and 15 individuals participated, representing help-seekers/non-help-seekers and formal/informal support. Interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.Results: Five distinct but related and interacting themes were developed: (1) military mindset; (2) stigma; (3) fear of consequences; (4) access to and awareness of support; and (5) facilitators to help-seeking.Conclusions: Help-seeking decisions and experiences were influenced by several barriers and facilitators. Providing an environment where military populations feel willing and able to access support for self-harm and suicidal behaviours could lessen the impact on their health and well-being and ultimately save lives.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2025.2480990Self-harm and related behaviourssuicidemilitary personnelveteranshelp-seeking behaviourqualitative research |
| spellingShingle | Charlotte Williamson Walter Busuttil Amos Simms Laura Palmer Sharon A. M. Stevelink Marie-Louise Sharp ‘Man up and get on with it’: a qualitative exploration of UK ex-serving personnel’s experiences of seeking help for self-harm and suicidal behaviours European Journal of Psychotraumatology Self-harm and related behaviours suicide military personnel veterans help-seeking behaviour qualitative research |
| title | ‘Man up and get on with it’: a qualitative exploration of UK ex-serving personnel’s experiences of seeking help for self-harm and suicidal behaviours |
| title_full | ‘Man up and get on with it’: a qualitative exploration of UK ex-serving personnel’s experiences of seeking help for self-harm and suicidal behaviours |
| title_fullStr | ‘Man up and get on with it’: a qualitative exploration of UK ex-serving personnel’s experiences of seeking help for self-harm and suicidal behaviours |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘Man up and get on with it’: a qualitative exploration of UK ex-serving personnel’s experiences of seeking help for self-harm and suicidal behaviours |
| title_short | ‘Man up and get on with it’: a qualitative exploration of UK ex-serving personnel’s experiences of seeking help for self-harm and suicidal behaviours |
| title_sort | man up and get on with it a qualitative exploration of uk ex serving personnel s experiences of seeking help for self harm and suicidal behaviours |
| topic | Self-harm and related behaviours suicide military personnel veterans help-seeking behaviour qualitative research |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2025.2480990 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT charlottewilliamson manupandgetonwithitaqualitativeexplorationofukexservingpersonnelsexperiencesofseekinghelpforselfharmandsuicidalbehaviours AT walterbusuttil manupandgetonwithitaqualitativeexplorationofukexservingpersonnelsexperiencesofseekinghelpforselfharmandsuicidalbehaviours AT amossimms manupandgetonwithitaqualitativeexplorationofukexservingpersonnelsexperiencesofseekinghelpforselfharmandsuicidalbehaviours AT laurapalmer manupandgetonwithitaqualitativeexplorationofukexservingpersonnelsexperiencesofseekinghelpforselfharmandsuicidalbehaviours AT sharonamstevelink manupandgetonwithitaqualitativeexplorationofukexservingpersonnelsexperiencesofseekinghelpforselfharmandsuicidalbehaviours AT marielouisesharp manupandgetonwithitaqualitativeexplorationofukexservingpersonnelsexperiencesofseekinghelpforselfharmandsuicidalbehaviours |