What's the hardest part of your army training? Did the army have any effect on your mental health? Did they support you?

Hello, Everybody finds different parts of training in the army hard. It all depends on who you are and what your life experiences are. For me, I really enjoyed basic training. I think the hardest part is adapting to the change of lifestyle and regimented routine. Once I got over this I took each challenge as it came. Everyone in training supports each other and that is a huge positive. As for mental health, again, everyone reacts differently to external pressure. I have never had any mental health issues from my life in the army. I have found that I have always had people around me to support me in hard times in the same way that I have been there to support them. I can not comment on what the future will hold, but for now, it has had no effect on my mental health. I do know there are great support networks out there for people that need it though. Greg

Hi, I'm an Army trained Mental Health First Aider. So, I personally have never had any adverse effects on my mental health from Army pressures but have definitely been affected by my own personal pressures such as family illness. What I can say is that, because I was in the Army I got all the support I needed from my co-workers and at my lowest point I spoke to my military doctor. I didn't feel like I needed professional mental health support but it was good to talk to someone outside of my friendship, family and co-worker group about how I was feeling. I found it great just to offload my personal issues on the doctor over this difficult time. We have amazing medical facilities and trained professionals for such things when needed, also many of our co-workers (like me) get training in spotting the signs of declining mental health and act as a friendly first port of call to look after our colleagues, whatever the reason. If you want to know more, feel free to ask away.