Hundreds of female members of the Armed Forces who accused their colleagues of rape were “misdiagnosed” with having a personality disorder, The Telegraph can reveal.
The victims claimed that after they sought help for sexual assault from the military’s departments of community mental health (DCMH), they were “written off” with emotionally unstable personality disorder and subsequently medically discharged.
Paula Edwards, the chief executive of Salute Her UK, a charity for female military personnel who have experienced sexual assault and rape, said that victims were being “overdiagnosed and misdiagnosed” so that the military can “get rid of the problem”.
The revelations came a month after The Telegraph revealed that the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst was urged to tackle a “toxic culture” of sexual assault after hundreds of servicewomen claimed to have reported abuse at the centre during their training.
Since then, a further 16 women have come forward to say that they were sexually abused while serving at Sandhurst.
Ms Edwards told The Telegraph that it became a “common theme” for young women to have the diagnosis on their medical records when accessing support from her charity.
“It is a worrying pattern,” she said. “A woman is raped so she goes to DCMH. She’s understandably all over the place. She might be suicidal. But instead of the medical practitioner seeing it as post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], they diagnose her with a personality disorder.
“You can’t serve in the military with this diagnosis, which enables the military to get rid of the problem.”
Ms Edwards added that it was “becoming a common theme for young women accessing support” from Salute Her UK, the sister charity of Forward Assist, which supports military veterans struggling to adjust to civilian life.
According to the charity’s own figures, of the 393 referrals it received in the past year, 133 of the women were diagnosed with a personality disorder. All of the victims were under the age of 27.
‘Once it’s on your record, you can’t get it off’
One female soldier was raped by a colleague early on in her career. In the coming months, she sought help from DCMH and was offered cognitive behavioural therapy, although she did not find this helpful. She said there was no “Plan B” in place after the sessions ended.
Unbeknown to her, she was diagnosed with a personality disorder. She learnt about this diagnosis only after being told she was up for medical discharge.
She told The Telegraph: “Once you get this on your record, you can’t get it off and it has impacted my life.
“At first, I didn’t even know what the diagnosis was. I had to Google it. I was surprised because I did not show these symptoms or repetitive behaviours and I was doing very well in my career before I was informed that I would be discharged.”
Despite being sexually assaulted while serving, she was never diagnosed with PTSD, a condition she felt would have been more appropriate.
“Recording that I have a personality disorder just feels like a lazy diagnosis,” she said.
According to the Mental Health Foundation, about one in 20 people in the UK have a personality disorder.
“A disproportionate amount of women registered with the charity have this diagnosis which is incredibly concerning,” Ms Edwards said.
Her concerns were echoed by Ahmed Al-Nahhas, the head of military claims at the law firm Bolt Burdon Kemp, who said he had noticed the “worrying” trend in the past three years.
He said in his experience, it was a growing theme that “women in the military who have suffered sexual assault get steered towards a diagnosis of personality disorder”.
Mr Al-Nahhas said: “If you’ve got a patient with no history of mental health or personality disorder, they then suffer a recent trauma and become unwell. The first thing a clinician should be thinking about is trauma-related disorder, not their personality.
“I am very suspicious of this trend and the way it waters down what is happening to women in the Armed Forces. It undermines their legal rights and potentially slows their recovery.”
Mr Al-Nahhas provided evidence to the Atherton Inquiry, led by Tory MP Sarah Atherton, about the levels of sexual assault and harassment in the military.
He said that while his team dealt with thousands of complaints over the past decade, it was since 2020 where he had “at least 50 enquiries from veterans where I have been concerned about the diagnosis”.
“There is definitely a trend and, in some cases, it could indicate clinical negligence,” he said.
“I’ve spoken to so many women who tell me they were raped, sexually assaulted or harassed by colleagues or their chain of command.
“They then start to suffer symptoms of PTSD. But instead of being treated for that condition, they are diagnosed with a personality disorder and sped towards a medical discharge. Many are left feeling guilty and blame themselves.”
Mr Al-Nahhas said that such misdiagnosis can “devastate” the victims’ “recovery, confidence and self-worth”, and cautioned that it then “invalidates the trauma they have suffered”.
“It also becomes tricky for them to claim for their lost military career, because the MoD [Ministry of Defence] will say their personality disorder would have cut it short in any event,” he added.
‘Veterans deserve better’
Mr Al-Nahhas said that over the years, he had reviewed the personnel records of his clients who had received the diagnosis, and the majority had successful careers without any significant history of poor mental health or any recorded personality issues.
He said “this is very convenient for the MoD, which faces many hundreds of civil claims from Service personnel every year, and which has spent many years sweeping these issues under the carpet”.
“Veterans deserve better,” he added.
An MoD spokesman said: “Our service personnel are our most valued asset and we take the condition of their health and well-being extremely seriously.
“In order to provide the maximum support and tackle unacceptable behaviours head-on, we have launched the ‘Unacceptable Behaviours Hub’ which helps our personnel obtain the advice and care they need.
“We have also introduced zero-tolerance policies, created the Defence Serious Crime Unit – ensuring all serious sexual complaints are fully investigated outside the chain of command – and have continued to improve reporting mechanisms.”