How military injury can affect your sense of purpose, belonging and mental health

A physical injury can affect far more than a service person’s body.

Being unable to train, deploy or do the job they joined the Armed Forces to do can leave someone feeling isolated from their team and uncertain about where they belong. On returning – after what could be months on sick leave – they might be medically downgraded and given work that keeps them occupied but offers little sense of purpose.

This World Mental Health Day, I wanted to look at the often-overlooked aspects of military recovery: staying connected, having a meaningful role and feeling able to speak about how you feel.

The isolation of being left behind

Military life can give people a strong sense of belonging as they become part of a close-knit team. Injury can disrupt both. While colleagues go on exercise, deploy or move postings, the injured person stays behind, attends appointments and waits for news about treatment or their future.

Long periods of sick leave can make returning harder – even a supportive unit changes while someone is away. On their first day back, they may feel like a visitor in a place where they once felt at home.

Pain, poor sleep and uncertainty can add to that strain. The NHS recognises that physical health problems can bring anxiety, frustration, loneliness and grief, particularly when they stop someone doing the things that matter to them.

Present at work, but without a purpose

Being given a different role during recovery can be valuable when it is meaningful and suited to someone’s capabilities. But being placed in a job with little responsibility, no clear purpose and no sense of how it fits into recovery can feel very different.

The person may be at work every day yet feel that they no longer belong to the team. They may worry that colleagues see them as an extra burden or resent covering duties they cannot perform. Even where nobody says this aloud, the fear of being judged can make it difficult to ask for adjustments or admit that an injury is not improving.

People should not have to prove their worth by working beyond medical advice. Nor should they be left to feel that, because they cannot do their old job today, they have nothing useful to contribute.

Words can make the injury harder to carry

“Man up”.

“Sickbay ranger”.

These phrases may be brushed off as military humour, but they can land heavily on someone who is already worried about their place in the unit.

An injured person may start hiding pain, playing down symptoms or avoiding a conversation about their mental health because they do not want to be seen as weak.

That helps nobody.

Asking for treatment, following rehabilitation advice and being honest about what you can do are part of recovery.

The response from colleagues and leaders can make a big difference to an injured person’s mental health. They need to ensure their injured teammates still feel included, ask what work they can meaningfully do, and check in without pressing them for private medical details. Colleagues should also take care with language, especially when the person is not in the room to hear it.

Recovery needs to include mental health

Not everyone with a physical injury will experience a mental health problem. But it should be possible to talk about low mood, anxiety or loss of confidence alongside pain, mobility and rehabilitation.

If you are struggling, tell your defence medical professional or GP. You might think: “I’m getting treatment for the injury, but I’m finding the time away from my job and my team hard to cope with.” That is a health concern worth raising, not a failure to recover properly.

Serving personnel can seek help through defence medical services. For those approaching discharge or who have left service, Op COURAGE provides specialist NHS mental health support in England. Help for Heroes also offers mental health support for veterans and their families.

Understanding your legal options

Some physical injuries occur despite appropriate care and precautions. Others may involve an avoidable accident, unsafe working conditions or a delay in recognising and treating an injury. Where someone else may be legally responsible, it is worth taking advice about whether a civil personal injury claim is possible.

A claim can consider more than the immediate physical injury. If the injury has also affected someone’s mental health, ability to work or future career, those consequences may be relevant. Depending on the evidence, compensation may include treatment costs, lost earnings and pension loss. Its aim is to put the injured person – as far as money can – in the position they would have been in without the injury.

If you are unsure how your injury happened or what options are available, Bolt Burdon Kemp’s Military Claims team can talk it through with you. Seeking advice does not commit you to bringing a claim.

If things feel overwhelming

You do not have to wait until you reach a crisis to talk to someone. Samaritans are available free, day or night, on 116 123. If you need urgent mental health help in England, call NHS 111 and select the mental health option. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999.