Peacekeeping-related trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), post-combat coping and post-traumatic growth (PTG) in the (Ghanaian) military

Abstract

Over 75% of African nations have experienced combat over the last 30 years, with Ghanaian armed forces being a significant contributor. Post-war trauma and mental health consequences have been widespread, with Africa accounting for 88% of global death toll from conflicts. Ghana's military forces have participated in 39 missions, resulting in 131 deaths and significant casualties. Post-deployment trauma, such as PTSD, is linked to difficulties military personnel face upon returning home. Ghana must adopt transition programs to help its military troops cope with these issues. The study sought to investigate the trauma-related experiences encountered by military personnel during peacekeeping missions and to evaluate potential gender differences in coping with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and experiencing Post- Traumatic Growth (PTG) following peacekeeping deployments. A quantitative research approach was adopted for the study and a cross-sectional research design to help with the data collection. Purposive and convenience sampling technique were used to select 392 military personnel for the study. Data was entered into SPSS version 25 and descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were employed to analysed the data gathered. Excel 2019 was used to compute the tables. The study established that, there exist a lot of males in the Ghana Army Forces and they are faced with several PTSD symptoms, coping exist between both genders in the Ghana Army and females exhibited higher PTG than males at the Ghana Army Forces. The relationship among PTSD, traumatic-related combat experience, coping and PTG were positive and statistically significant. The Ghana Armed Forces should prioritize mental health through training, assessments, resilience enhancement, open discussions, peer support networks, and resources, while promoting public awareness and collaborating with psychologists. The study suggests that a study should be conducted on Ghana Police Service, Immigration and the Fire Service in relation to PTSD, PTG and Coping.