Panorama: The Trauma Industry

BBC One, JULY 27TH, 8.30PM

Veteran BBC war reporter Allan Little investigates how the battlefield trauma of the Vietnam War - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - now ends up in British motor insurance claims, workplace accidents and school bullying.

There was a time when Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) applied only to those who have survived a war or something similar.

Not any more. It’s being diagnosed in people who have had a minor traffic accident, bullying in the workplace, even in the school yard.

Incredibly, the NHS is now treating an estimated 220,000 people a year for PTSD – over twice the number of soldiers in the entire British Army.

PTSD is now a lucrative part of the UK’s £7 billion pounds a year personal accident industry business.

But how can there be more trauma on the streets of Britain than on the battlefields of Afghanistan?

In this thought provoking and timely Panorama, Allan Little investigates the rise of the Trauma Industry in the UK.

Credits:

Reporter – Allan Little
Camera – Ben Todd, Jerry Kelly, Andy Jackson
Sound Recordist - Jack Kelly, Jonathan Livesay
Links Camera – Joe Taylor
Links Sound – Robert Widger
Online Editor – Chris Clark
Dubbing Mixer – Richard Ashley
Unit Manager, BBC – Eleanor Bailey
Production Managers - Zoe Alzamora, Sophie Wiesner
Assistant Producer – Patrick Barrie
Researcher – Emily Rohan
Film Editor - John Moratiel
Deputy Editors, BBC Panorama – Daniel Pearl, Ingrid Kelly, Frank Simmonds
Editor, BBC Panorama – Sandy Smith
Producer & Director – Kevin Toolis