Professor Simon Wessely MA, BM BCh, MSc, MD, FRCP, FRCPsych, F Med Sci. Director, King’s Centre for Military Health Research, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London

Simon Wessely is Vice Dean for Academic Psychiatry, and Chair and Head of the Department of Psychological Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. He is Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist at King’s and Maudsley Hospitals. He is Honorary Consultant Advisor in Psychiatry to the British Army and one of the new Foundation Senior Investigators of the National Institute of Health Research.

He started at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and read Art for his Part 2, developing an abiding love for Vassily Kandinsky and equal hatred for the work of Marc Chagall. He then attended University College Oxford and the clinical school, followed by two years on a medical rotation in Newcastle being a real doctor and getting medical membership. However, he always intended to study psychiatry, and started training at the Maudsley in 1984, and has not really left Camberwell since, other than a year at the National Hospital for Neurology, and a year studying epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene.

Professor Wessely is Director of the King’s Centre for Military Health Research Unit at King’s College London (www.kcl.ac.uk/kcmhr), and of the Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health (ACDMH), a partnership between MoD and King’s College London. He is a member of the Defence Scientific Advisory Council.

His research interests are in the grey areas between medicine and psychiatry, clinical epidemiology, psychiatric injury and military health. His first paper was called Dementia and Mrs Thatcher, but since then he has published over 550 papers on many subjects, including epidemiology, post traumatic stress, psychological debriefing, chronic fatigue syndrome, history, chronic pain, suicide, somatisation, Gulf War illness, shell shock, military health and terrorism.  He is also keen on public engagement activities around psychiatry, medicine and science.

In 2006 the unit published the first results of a study of the physical and psychological health of 12,000 UK military personnel, half of whom served in the Iraq conflict (TELIC 1).  The principal results were that there has been no repeat of the Gulf War Syndrome saga, that there is no increase in psychiatric disorders in Regular forces, but an increase in some mental health problems in Reserve forces who took part in TELIC. This study led to the extension of post deployment mental health services to Reservists.

Further work has shown the absence of any long term health problems related to either the anthrax vaccination or exposure to depleted uranium. We confirmed that the Harmony Guidelines were effective in reducing the risk of mental health problems, but there was a small increase in psychiatric disorders and a larger increase in alcohol problems when these were violated. We were unable to show a benefit from pre deployment stress briefings, but post deployment briefings seemed more helpful. New research to be published looks at the use of alcohol, risk taking behaviours post deployment, improved operational management of Reservists and family support.

In 2007 the unit started a complete follow up of all of those involved in the original study, together with 5,000 extra personnel who have joined the Armed Forces since 2003, and a new sample to cover Op HERRICK. Other work under review includes studies of the impact of deployment on children, what if anything is the impact of minor traumatic brain injury (mTBI), and how does one distinguish between normal emotional reactions to active deployments and actual mental health problems requiring treatment.

Previous work from the unit demonstrated the ineffectiveness of single session psychological debriefing in preventing mental health problems, which was part of the evidence that led MOD to withdraw that policy. We are now analysing the results of a new system of peer led support in the Royal Navy (TRIM) intended to reduce stigma and encourage help seeking, and planning an assessment of the new US system of “Battlemind”.

The unit also has a long standing interest in population resilience to terrorism, and has published on civilian reactions to the London Blitz, the 2005 London bombings and the 2006 polonium incident. Professor Wessely is PI on a Home Office funded study of psychological and behavioural reactions to CBRN terrorism in partnership with the Health Protection Agency.

He has recently co authored books on chronic fatigue syndrome,  the randomised controlled trial in psychiatry, and a new history of shell shock – but none has yet reached the best seller lists. He is more proud of the fact, contrary to the expectations of his friends and family, in 2006 he completed the Pedal to Paris to raise money for the Royal British Legion, and did it again in 2007 although Paris seemed further away that year.