PTSD AWARE

Mental health affects people in different ways, and reaching out for support is the hardest – yet essential – first step. Unfortunately, many ex-service personnel asking for help can be left behind by civilian medical professionals, but help is available

Everyone has mental health, and one in four people will develop a mental health condition in a single year. Discussions around mental ill health have taken a significant step in the right direction. However, for the Armed Forces community, speaking out can be an internal battle and, for some, finding the right help is a challenge.

MEDICAL ADVICE

One of the most common forms of mental health condition for ex-service personnel is post-traumatic stress (PTSD). This can be experienced after a traumatic experience, such as seeing active combat, is stored in your memory and triggers – for example, loud noises – can leave you experiencing physical symptoms.

Panic attacks, a sense of never switching ‘off’, irritability and depression are just some symptoms of PTSD. Reaching out for medical guidance is crucial, unfortunately, it has been recorded that only three per cent of GPs could diagnose mental health conditions in a veteran.

“Very few GPs have ever served in the military,” emphasises Dr Walter Busuttil, the medical director for veteran mental health charity, Combat Stress. “Historically, for example, after WWII everyone knew about the military.” Reduced awareness of the Armed Forces could be seen as a significant reason that many GPs don’t recognise how mental health conditions can differ.

For Eddie Blench, an Army veteran who served for over 13 years in countries such as the Falklands, Iraq and Northern Ireland, a lack of awareness saw Eddie live without adequate help for many years.

It’s better to educate the service personnel so when they are veterans they know where to find services

UNDERSTAND

“A general GP doesn’t understand the Forces etiquette,” emphasises Eddie. “You are built up to be the way they want you to be: a fighting machine. Aggression becomes a natural thing in the Army, you are taught to be a killer.

“Improved understanding from medical professionals would have been a tremendous help. I have been suffering on and off for 20 years, because I’ve only been diagnosed in the last two years; all that time I’ve been living a nightmare and drinking heavily.”

Eddie continues: “I was getting treated on and off for depression, and I was never diagnosed with PTSD. I tried to take my own life and I experienced manic bouts, flashbacks; it got to the stage I was so depressed it felt like I was staring at the bottom of the barrel.”

By not receiving the right diagnosis, Eddie’s experiences of severe mental health issues persisted a lot longer than necessary. And this is what charities such as Combat Stress and Dr Busuttil are working to change.

REACHING OUT

“When I started training in the Air Force in 1988/89 as a junior psychiatrist, nobody was interested in PTSD,” says Dr Busuttil. At this time the Armed Forces had limited knowledge of veteran mental health, but this has improved after research completed from veterans who served in the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Gulf War I, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Even so, reaching out for mental health guidance has its challenges. In fact, research has shown that the average veteran who comes to Combat Stress waits about 13-14 years after they leave the military before getting help. This figure has been reduced for those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan to four and two years, it is thought as a result of better education they receive in the military nowadays about mental ill health.

“The MoD has been doing a lot of education whilst people have been in service,” continues Dr Busuttil. “This doesn’t mean personnel will go for help whilst in service – having said that, they do come forward and know what might be wrong with them.

“With the younger veterans there is a lot more education, that is the way to go: it’s better to educate the service personnel so when they are veterans they know where to find services for themselves. To educate all the GPs is proving difficult.”

AWARENESS

The College of General Practitioners provides an e-learning service on veteran health and mental health, unfortunately, it is known that some GPs will not visit this website. In a bid to change this to ensure guidance is on hand, the MoD, Combat Stress, NHS England and the Armed Forces Commissioning Group worked together to encourage the College of General Practitioners to include a question on the membership exam on military health.

Thankfully, for veterans like Eddie, Combat Stress provides residential treatments, a PTSD Intensive Treatment Programme, alongside community support.

CAMARADERIE

After being prompted to contact Combat Stress by his wife, Eddie had residential treatment at the charity’s treatment centre Hollybush House in Ayrshire, as well as a weekly session with an occupational therapist for 12 months. The services help him to this day. “I have a tailored programme now that helps me and I have an open door with Hollybush, or I can call them up when I need help,” emphasises Eddie. “I’m not 100 per cent, but I am in control. I do have nightmares, too, but not as consistently as I had in the past.”

Connecting with the veteran community after coming out of service or when dealing with mental health concerns can be a lifeline. When you connect with Combat Stress, many of the staff have served or understand life in the Forces – the sense of camaraderie is palpable.

Reaching out for help can be the hardest step to take, but there are services available to provide veteran specific mental health support when you need it most. n