"War! (Uh huh, yeah!) What is it good for? Absolutely nuthin'!" go the lyrics of the famous song. Well, it turns out that it could be good for your mental health, actually.

There are always lots of theories about activities that are good for people with mental health problems. A couple of days ago it was gardening; a few months back it was exercise. But never mind all that, because following research with servicemen and women who had just returned from Iraq, a team from Kings College London has announced that going to war is not necessarily bad for a soldier's mental health. In fact - get this! - in some cases, they found a significant improvement in soldiers' psychological well-being following a spell on the frontline.

Crippled Monkey says: got mental health problems? Well, chuck away your spade and your pedometer, and get yourself off to a good war somewhere. Alternatively, a safer option might be to just rent out a load of military movies on DVD. I recommend Saving Private Ryan, Apocalypse Now and A Bridge Too Far. You know it makes sense.