It is, however, considered that many of such cases could, after recovery, be usefully employed in some form of auxiliary military duty. Part of the concern was that many British veterans were receiving pensions and had long-term disabilities. By 1939, some 120,000 British ex-servicemen had received final awards for primary psychiatric disability or were still drawing pensions – about 15% of all pensioned disabilities – and another 44,000 or so were getting pensions for soldiers heart or Effort Syndrome. There is, though, much that statistics do not show, because in terms of psychiatric effects, pensioners were just the tip of a huge iceberg. "War correspondent Philip Gibbs wrote:

Something was wrong. They put on civilian clothes again and looked to their mothers and wives very much like the young men who had gone to business in the peaceful days before August 1914. But they had not come back the same men. Something had altered in them. They were subject to sudden moods, and queer tempers, fits of profound depression alternating with a restless desire for pleasure. Many were easily moved to passion where they lost control of themselves, many were bitter in their speech, violent in opinion, frightening. One British writer between the wars wrote:

There should be no excuse given for the establishment of a belief that a functional nervous disability constitutes a right to compensation. This is hard saying.
Treatment
7 Rs
The British Army treated Operational Stress Reaction according to the 7 Rs:
Recognition – identify that the individual has an Operational Stress Reaction
Respite – provide a short period of relief from the front line
Rest – allow rest and recovery
Recall – give the individual the chance to recall and discuss the experiences that have led to the reaction
Reassurance – inform them that their reaction is normal and they will recover
Rehabilitation – improve the physical and mental health of the patient until they no longer show symptoms
Return – allow the soldier to return to their unit

BICEPS
Modern front-line combat stress treatment techniques are designed to mimic the historically used PIE techniques with some modification. BICEPS is the current treatment route employed by the U.S. military and stresses differential treatment by the severity of CSR symptoms present in the service member. BICEPS is employed as a means to treat CSR symptoms and return soldiers quickly to combat. The following subsections on the BICEPS program are adapted from the USMC combat stress handbook:

Brevity
Critical Event Debriefing should take 2 to 3 hours. Initial rest and replenishment at medical CSC (Combat Stress Control) facilities should last no more than 3 or 4 days. Those requiring further treatment are moved to the next level of care. Since many require no further treatment, military commanders expect their service members to return to duty rapidly. Immediacy
CSC should be done as soon as possible when operations permit. Intervention is provided as soon as symptoms appear.