post traumatic stress disorder

[harry hackedoff]

What ever happened to the thousands of National Servicemen that went through the the Battlefields of Korea, or Malaya and dozens of other battles which were far worse than the Falklands or any other conflict since. How did they cope,…… How was it they did it then ?????

The answer is, some of them didn’t “cope” at all. PTSD was not recognised as a “medical condition” until the latter part of the twentieth century. That doesn’t mean it didn’t exist before then. When Mutley and I went to Tyrwitt House for our visit last September, there were guys there from every conflict since 1939.

If you read the posts from guys who are victims of this disorder you will see we are not talking about some f@#k ing yuppie flu here. As Bean has just proved, once again, for every victim there is a victim’s family. Opinions like yours ” how was it they did it then?????” are what is stopping these people from being given the treatment and support that they need and deserve from the MoD. You`ll be telling them to pull themselvs together next.
Roll on the class action.
Aye, Harry
PS Bean, do me a favour mate. Re-read your last pm to me

[El Prez]

Tab, Bean asked me to scrub his posts if I thought they offended. I have no intention of touching them. I can understand your query, but may I put it politely, it is extremely insensitive; please go to page one of this thread, read about the guys who have taken a huge step forward, simply using this forum.
I spent the weekend watching Bean and others having an absolute ball in each others company. Like a bunch of kids at summer camp. I sincerely hope your questions have not disrupted his progress.
The brave one is Bean, he asked for help and has received it. Maybe one day something will happen to make you seek assistance, I hope it never happens, but if it does pray that you have the men who support Bean to turn to.

Bean, get your arse in gear and packed for Anglesey, a promise is a promise, bring her whose hair must be obeyed.

[Tab]

No offence was taken about any thing that is said, I was just asking the question. This is a forum where one should be able to ask questions and expect a whole rage of replies. Some might agree with you, and some wont, but at least with luck you do learn some thing in the process.

[Sticky Blue]

PTSD does not just come about from wars... there are many event that can cause a person to be diagnosed with PTSD and it is not an instant problem. Its onset can be quick or, as is more often the case, a slow creeping feeling. I know of someone who was, unbeknown by anyone else apart from his wife, suffering in silence. The silence ended for him when he took his own life. This was 12 years after the event!
PTSD has always been around, it is just that no one knew what it was or what caused it. Nine times out of ten it was called shell shock, madness or 'he isn't well'. It was, put simply, IGNORANCE! You say it hasn't been around... have a look at some of the war poetry from the first world war. Poetry was used as a way for the sufferers or 'shell shock' to express their feelings. Read the poems and you will see the similarities between what has so often been described by sufferers of PTSD and those who were ill with shell shock.
Bean, if anyone took offence f%$k them! Your post was from the heart and the heart speaks the truth. If anyone thinks it was harsh, strong, out of order or whatever they should try being my oppos wife!

[Shoulderholster]

Tab
I think you have raised a point that a lot of people think but never ask out loud.
From personal experience I know that people from other conflicts have suffered.My Father used to have terrible nightmares and mood swings after his experiences in the Korean War (read up on the PPCLI at Kapyong if you want to know what they went through,I had to find out that way because he never spoke about it).
My Grandfather fought all through N Africa,Italy and D-Day and on through Germany.When he came home he lived in the outhouse for five months because he couldn't cope with things in the house.
But the difference being servicemen and women today leave the services in isolation,unlike their predecessors who when they returned to the workplace/factories etc had all shared the experience of war and that common experience helped them to talk about things to each other.As is continually being pointed out,talking is the first step on the road to recovery.
They were also from the "stiff upper lip" generation and hid their emotions when perhaps they should have been more open with their own feelings,at least today the public airing of PTSD should make things easier (bad choice of word)for future service personell.
As for hard men not crying,just have a look around the cemetry at Ranville on 6th June at the rememberance service.Not many dry eyes there including mine.
SH

[harry hackedoff]

No offence was taken about any thing that is said

Really? No offence was taken. What a relief.

This is a forum where one should be able to ask questions and expect a whole rage of replies.

It is. And my raging reply to you is whilst I do not agree with your view and find it ill informed, inaccurate and out of date, as well as being so insensitivly phrased as to be offensive, I agree that you have a right to hold such a view. Furthermore, you have a right to express it on here.

with luck you do learn some thing in the process

Go on then, tell us. What have you learned?

If I seem to be slightly annoyed, let me assure you that I`m not.

I`m harry hacked-off. Er, no offence

[SYB]

TAb go and read, A WAR OF NERVES by Ben Shephard?
You may find it educating.

[vityaz]

Having a relative who fought in ww2 and suffered a nervous breakdown and PTSD to the day he died I can tell anyone who says otherwise that the condition existed back then. Furthermore in those conflicts one knew who the enemy was, in NI and similar conflicts you didnt

[l2ove]

Is there no support / families group in existance for this problem? I think it is starting to be taken more seriously now by the powers that be. I had a lecture and watched an SSVC video a few months ago. It was given by the MO. People were encuraged not to suffer in scilence but to report it, and the signs / simptoms were explained.

Hello I work for the charity MIND as a support worker, within the next couple of months I will be starting a group for ex=service persons, relating to PTSD along with other matters. If you or anybody else would like any information, please contact me for more details.

[duckndive]

How many people do you know that has been cured of PTSD?Medication is prescribed to help with the symptoms of PTSD but i do not know anybody that has been cured.Anybody that goes to Combat Stress would of seen the same faces with various degrees of PTSD over the years,still attending CS,but they are not cured.

PTSD is still not understood in the main stream of the medical proffession,families of people that have PTSD are not brought into the treatment process of PTSD.The famlies have to put up with a lot of stuff,when they are living with someone with PTSD.

I get the impression the goverment is burying its head in the sand with PTSD,there are a lot more cases that are going to be diagnosed.In the future,the sad thing is,where will service personnel go to get help?Combat Stress is running at full capacity at their homes at present.

[ofens]

Yes it's not a thing that can just be cured.
One good analogy I've heard is that it's like a spring that's been stretched beyond it's elastic limit and can't function as a spring any more.
PTSD is not well understood even symptoms of it have been recorded as far back as Ancient Greece.
There's an increasing number of people claiming to have it who are in fact just suffering from PTSR, which appears to be similar in the short term but is not the same and is not the chronic destructive process that PTSD is.
And a number of GPs are starting to diagnose people with PTSD when they haven't got it, complicating the situation further and making it even harder for thsoe that have it to get the treatment they need.
Patience, ingenuity and dedication will get us closer to this being better understood and treated.