More than a third of a 1,000 survivors contacted who were involved in the 7/7 London bomb attacks have been found to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Following the 2005 London bombings, psychologists say they have seen hundreds of cases of PTSD, though only a few had been referred by local GPs and may have missed out on the specialised care had they not been contacted by a mental health outreach programme. Only 4% of those contacted have been referred for treatment by there GP.

The findings from the University College London have been reported in the Psychological Medicine with Professor Chris Brewin and his team saying that the Department of Health should have plans in place to help people with programmes like the mental health outreach programme after disasters and terrorist atrocities.

Professor Brewin also pointed out that hundreds of people could still be suffering form psychological problems had the programme not contacted them. They found many of the victims had GP complaints that they had not known how recognise or treat their PTSD. In extreme situations relying on primary care services and GPs to deal with PTSD simply do not work.

Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation Dr Andrew McCulloch said: "It's fantastic that so much effort was put into looking after the mental health of the London bombings survivors and it would probably be a wise to take a similar approach after future disasters.

"However, everyone should be able to expect high quality and timely treatment for their mental health problems, whatever the cause.

"Unfortunately, many common occurrences such as road traffic accidents or domestic abuse leave people suffering from shock and PTSD every day, and they should be able to expect support from regular NHS mental health services."

The Department of Health has set a target of having at least one psychological therapy treatment centre available in each primary care trust by April 2011.

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Source http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8555526.stm

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