THE majority of Britain’s prison officers are suffering significant symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), groundbreaking research has revealed.

PTSD symptoms have been reported by 51.7 per cent of prison officers, a “notably higher” proportion than found in similar studies of their US counterparts, between 19 to 34 per cent of whom are affected by the condition, the study of the little-researched subject found.

Record levels of inmate self-harm and the prison service’s “tick-box exercise” attitude towards mental health were factors listed by staff who responded to the study.

It found that the incidents most commonly experienced by officers included witnessing suicide attempts, serious assaults, receiving serious threats and seeing colleagues being injured.

More than four in five reported encountering a dead body at least once during their work.

Discussing her findings at the Prison Officers Association annual conference today, lead author Laura Wright called for prison officers to have similar PTSD support as seen in the armed forces.

“It’s seen as an expected thing there and therefore there’s a lot more proactive intervention,” said Ms Wright, a trainee forensic psychologist.

“That’s something I would like to see — that awareness from the leaders of the prison staff.”

Commenting on the record levels of self-harm seen in prisons, she added that the risk of developing PTSD as a result “is always going to be there, but it doesn’t have to be ignored.

“It’s something that we can prevent, we can minimise and it’s often to do with what we are doing before and after a situation.”

The study, based on online interviews with 436 prison staff and follow-up interviews with 19, found no significant differences in PTSD symptoms based on gender, ethnicity, staff grade or assignment location.

POA general secretary Steve Gillan said that the “very important” piece of research showed how urgent action was required to support prison officers at risk of PTSD.

He said: “Prison safety has declined significantly over the last decade, with self-harm rates remaining at historically high levels and violence against both staff and prisoners continuing to rise.

“This report has made a series of recommendations that we believe should be implemented urgently by HM Prison and Probation Service.”

The Ministry of Justice was contacted for comment.