Supporting The Guidelines
BBC Online; Daily Mail; East Anglian Daily Times
I hope that maybe you will find the help you need by reading my website and learning from my problems. If only one person benefits from this process then all the emotional pain I have gone through to help develop these guidelines would have been worthwhile. I truly believe though that these guidelines will help many hundreds and maybe thousands of people suffering from PTSD both now and in the future.
Help is there you just need to know where to get it.
This is an article on BBC ONLINE which promotes both the Guideline and my support for them...
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'My war injuries were psychological'
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New guidelines have been drawn up by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to improve the recognition, screening and treatment of PTSD. Andrew Murphy, who developed PTSD after serving with the armed forces in Bosnia in 1993, hopes this will mean others get the help that he found it difficult to receive.
Andrew, who is 38 and from Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk, was forced to retire from his career as an Army chef after suffering symptoms including flashbacks, sleeping problems and anxiety. "My war injuries were psychological. We came under sustained periods of fire from different sides and also witnessed some horrific scenes," he said. On one occasion, he said, he was travelling back from the headquarters when an artillery shell landed close to where he was. "The feeling of that - the heat, the noise, hearing it come over first - it was very frightening. I'm back in that vehicle now. It is very vivid. "I knew I could not go back at the end of my tour." Fear Andrew had not heard of PTSD and was confused about what he was feeling and experiencing. "I was scared, very anxious and afraid. I would jump at loud noises. I was scared even of fireworks afterwards. "I felt very guilty as well that the other people I served with did not have the same reactions as me." Two years later he said, he had a complete breakdown, which he blamed on his job at that time working as a civilian catering manager. He sought help from doctors but suffered a series of relapses. He said he did not get effective treatment for his PTSD until he found the help of an organisation called Combat Stress. After his condition was diagnosed, he had sessions of psychological therapies, which he says helped him to cope. "Living with PTSD is incredibly difficult," he said. "Before you are diagnosed you feel you are going mad. It can be very isolating and lonely. "I'm now rebuilding my life. I don't think anyone can be 100% cured. It is more a case of understanding what PTSD is and how you can help accept who you are now, because you are not the same person as you were before. "It's about teaching yourself not to focus on the negative aspects." He said he decided to set up a website to provide information and support to other people who might have gone through similar experiences to himself. He is hopeful that the new guidelines will make a big difference. "Treatment has been patchy across the UK, but these guidelines will finally make care and treatment for PTSD sufferers more balanced and given clear guidance to GPs and other health professionals as to how to treat PTSD," he said. |
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Before you are diagnosed you feel you are going mad 
This is an article from the Daily Mail (23rd March 2005) on the New NICE, PTSD Guidelines...
Therapy first for trauma sufferers
People who have suffered a traumatic event and experience continuing anxiety and stress should be offered therapy first rather than drugs, experts have said.The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued guidelines for the NHS to improve the recognition, screening and treatment of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
But members of the team who helped produce the guidance admitted that implementing their recommendations across England and Wales would not be immediately possible in all NHS organisations due to lack of resources.
GPs have already raised concerns about the lack of psychological therapy and counselling services available to which they can refer patients with depression, anxiety and other similar disorders.
The guidance targets the management of people who have suffered a traumatic event, such as a major disaster, being in a war zone or sexual and physical abuse.
NICE said that PTSD was common, with around 5% of men and 10% of women suffering at some time in their life. Up to 30% of people exposed to a stressful event of an exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature, such as the September 11 terrorist attack or the more recent Asian tsunami disaster, will go on to develop PTSD.
Symptoms can include flashbacks, nightmares, depression, sleep problems, irritability and anger. The NICE guidance says that if symptoms are mild and have been present for less than four weeks, the patient should be monitored carefully to see how they cope.
But for those in clear need of help, trauma-based psychological treatment should be offered. The guideline said that drug treatments, such as anti-depressants, should not be used as a routine first-line treatment in adults with PTSD.
It also states health workers should learn to recognise possible symptoms of PTSD and be aware of situations where they might develop, such as warning the parents of youngsters who have been in road accidents.
Disaster plans should contain provision for a fully co-ordinated psychological response to the disaster, the experts also recommended. The guideline development team included patients who had themselves suffered PTSD.
This is an article from the East Anglian Daily Times (25th March 2005)...
