China’s military: one in five South China Sea submariners has mental health issues, study finds
- Increase in frequency of military manoeuvres and long periods of isolation possibly to blame, researchers from Naval Medical University say
- Study questioned more than 500 male servicemen working in the disputed region
The study by Naval Medical University in Shanghai of more than 500 servicemen and officers claims to be the first of its kind to highlight the psychological problems facing troops working in the disputed waterway.
Based on their answers to a self-assessment questionnaire, 21 per cent of respondents were found to be suffering from some degree of mental health problems.
The findings suggested the submariners were “at higher risk of and have more serious psychological problems”, the researchers said in a report published this month in Military Medicine, a journal produced by the Society of Federal Health Professionals in the United States.
The study said more research was needed to understand the causes of the mental health problems, but said the sea’s strategic importance to China was likely to be one of the contributing factors.