Chapter 8: Soldiers on International Missions – Mental Health Profile before and after Deployment

In this chapter, we provide an analysis of the health profile before and after deployment for the about 26,000 soldiers who were deployed between 1992 and 2009. We investigate psychological health in terms of psychiatric diagnoses, purchase of mental health medication and number of contacts with the psychiatric health care system. We also include a brief examination of the work-related accidents reported to ASK (National Board of Injury and Compensation). Finally, we analyse mortality among those who have been deployed.

In the analyses, we compare those deployed with a control group made up of men who were deemed eligible for military service on Armed Forces Day (previous session). We also focus on the difference between the groups of deployed soldiers, such as personnel groups or those with different mission experience.