Date:

17 Apr 2005

Time:

10:56

Comments

fantabadosie!

You have put together a great site for helping ex servicemen in their time of need when government agencies no longer want to know them.  A friend of mine is suffering from PTSD ( I didn't know about it until it was on the front page of the local paper), of course the NHS don't 'want to know'. 

Finding your web site and printing the pages off may be able to help in, and more especially his wife, to come to terms with his past (Gulf war ! in the RAF).

regards

Pete Nash
chairman Stowmarket Branch, RAFA.

 

Date:

19 Apr 2005

Time:

16:38

Comments

Dear sir, thank you for your website, my husband was just recently diagnosed with PTSD.,14 years after Basra road, can you believe it ,it took the tsunami to realize him that he had a problem. It has been a difficult time, it makes it more complicated living outside the UK. but thank you, the information is very clear and very helpful and puts my mind at ease also that my husband is not mad and neither am I.  Keep up the good work.  greetings from cloggy land and where the tulips grow.

 

Date:

22 Apr 2005

Time:

16:56

Comments

Hello to all guests past and present and unfortunately the future guests!
I wish I had an outlet like this when I received my gunshot wounds back in October 1991. I have been coping with PTSD for 14 years now, and I must confess it has been a roller coaster ride.

I am making an entry here because I feel that I would like to make a little good come of something so bad.
You see, only we who have been there can understand how we feel and have felt. The rank structure above frowning on your behaviour, the so called stiff upper lip. well I could not tolerate the ignorance of people both military and civilian who would not understand. In there eyes I was lazy.

I had a breakdown 2 years to the day I got shot, and ended up in Woolwich hospital, it was military back then and I found myself for the first time amongst sane normal people who had also been through similar and worse experiences than mine. For the first time in 2 years I was talking to people who understood. People who were let down!

I could type an essay here regarding the next twelve years but will wrap up with the following,

I will never get rid of ptsd as all on here will not, I have grown to understand this enemy within me and control it now more than it controls me. My heart goes out to those who have had it for years and have not been given the support, you see, I believe I was very lucky, A civilian lawyer, a standard personal injury lawyer, tried to help me in the early days and tried to get me some financial loss etc for my injuries and on going care,

Unfortunately I do not allow any advertising or promoting of services from Legal or Health Care Professionals.  I do not want to be held responsible for people getting hurt by something or someone I have no control over but which they found that information or details from my website.

Hope you understand David and many thanks for you entry.  I am really pleased that you have managed to rebuild your life and you stand as an inspiration to others who feel that they will never be able to do this or even work again.

Andy

I have controlled my ptsd and have a successful business. I'm not saying that it will be the same for all but every little helps. 

Cheer up guys, and many thanks to Andy for such a great site.

David Callaway

 

Date:

23 Apr 2005

Time:

01:19

Comments

Great site Andy, and some good methods of relaxation, which as you said do work.  I lately have just left the Prozac club after being told by my doctor that I was suffering from depression and stress which dated back to the Falklands.  I served in 82 and then again in 83 [spent nearly a year down there on active duty] It still seems like yesterday.  Although I'm now a civi I have changed so much in the last ten years or so, I get angry much quicker and I am void of emotion.  My brick wall that I had holding back all the memories for years started to crumble about 3 years ago and confess that I can talk about what I saw at long last, but I daren't go too deep because I'm scared of what emotions might come through. So I keep trying to build my wall up to protect me again.  I confess I feel that all of us ex military folks got NO help what so ever from the gov when we returned home....what's new.
Anyway at least I'm here, some of my friends never made it back.

 

Date:

14 May 2005

Time:

01:03

Comments

I have been diagnosed with ptsd since my return from Iraq in 2003. I am a TA bloke. So what my life is worth the same as my regular mates I served with. who by the way were fukin brilliant. The main problem I found was coming home. treated like shit.  nobody understands how frightening war is. Had some bad experiences. got to live with them.  But I will. Still gettin in fights because I'm a sad old squady.

My advice is see a Good GP.  The heads fucked compared to civies.  They will never grasp the concept..

 

Date:

10 June 2005

Time:

01:20    

Comments

How many veterans who suffered from PTSD have comited suicide, I'm a NI vet  2 wives later and 35 years on and I'm still having nightmares and flashbacks, I wish id never seen an army uniform

god bless you all

 

Date:

22 June 2005

Time:

18:16

Comments

I have been a patient at "Tyrwhitt House" Combat Stress for some 21 years.

The staff do all they can to help, but the real help comes from us, the veterans, helping each other to cope.

Talking to others who know exactly what you are going through, because they too are going through their own personal HELL !

I would recommend, Tyrwhitt House, for this reason alone.

Date:

25 June 2005

Time:

00:41

Comments

i found your site through a link on a fusilier site i always thought i had a problem  but now iv found your site and seen some of the remarks .i know i have ptsd  iv been on the bottle for years and have not had a good nights sleep sine 75 thats hard to believe but its true im sure most of my old mates from the battalion have problems as well but who do we talk to. who do we contact for help i cant talk to a civvie about my experiances in n.i

respect

 

Date:

29 June 2005

Time:

08:54 (UK time)

Comments

Hi Andy,
Thank you for putting up this great website.
So kind and helpful! :-))

I have a tip I use to remain calm.
I let the word "relax" run in my mind every moment, not only for a few minutes. ; >

fyi, the reason why I might have PTSD is because I had went through 8 years of domestic violence (all forms of abuse except sexual) by my birth mother.

May everyone who come to your website leave it smiling and feeling much better like I do.

Love and Peace,

Georgia

 

Date:

29 June 2005

Time:

15:01

Comments

Thank you Andy for a voice of sanity in my chaotic life.  I have worked in child protection for 15yrs and have seen and heard of everything that could be done to a child.  I guess it doesn't matter how you get it the outcome is the same. I feel totally abandoned by the 'system', and very isolated by this awful injury.
Like you it was some years before I was diagnosed and I kept working and getting more and more depressed.  I am in the position now of having to give up my career in social work (the helper has become the helped!), at the age of 53, and figure out a way of making my life more meaningful.
The organisation I work for has been of no help at all.  As with many Gvt Depts, they prefer not to advertise the fact that they were wholly responsible for my injury by lack of adequate debriefing, and failure to provide a safe working environment.  I have often had to go into houses where it is known that the parent has a weapon and is a violent drug user, and Police have been 'unavailable' to assist.  What chances do 2 women have in these circumstances?  I am really good at negotiating, but it is unacceptable to expose people to such high levels of stress.
Sorry I'm rambling...
Thanks again for your site.
Elizabeth

 

Date:

11 July 2005

Time:

20:10        

Comments

Thank you for your input and interest in a difficult subject. I am a County VSO and it seems to me that the vast majority of people I meet do have this problem (even civilians).

Thanks again, Linda

 

Date:

19 July 2005

Time:

23:38

Comments

How do I know if I am suffering from PTSD?
I can tick a lot of the boxes, but can not think of a particular stressful incident that make my life the mess it is today. I know I need help. I hope this is my first step. It's only taken 14 years.

Dreddguy.

 

Date:

23 July 2005

Time:

08:43

Comments

Having just done the DSM-IV questionnaire for PTSD on bullyonline website, It is very apparent that I do have the complaint. My problem now is getting my doctor to recognise it. I am suffering from deep seated depression as a result of it and between your website and David Kinchin's book, am pleased to say that I feel there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. Keep up the good work. Best wishes from a fellow sufferer of both long term PTSD (from my childhood) and complex PTSD from workplace bullying.

 

Date:

31 July 2005

Time:

15:27

Comments

I'm a PTSD sufferer myself and thoroughly agree with your sites advice ( and humour ) Am also ex-service and applaud the job Combat Stress do on 'a shoestring'
My wife and I both found things to take away and try, so look forward to coming back soon.
yours
Harry and Aileen Chapman, Flotta, Orkney

 

Date:

1 Aug 2005

Time:

16:06

Comments

Hi All,
Great site.  Boy did I need this.  Got out of the mob a couple of years ago after service in NI, Gulf 1 Bosnia et al, never spoke about any of it with wife or family, they just accepted that I was an 'angry man'  I had a run in with my employers last year and was almost sacked, depression gripped pretty hard and my GP has done a great job, he's got me seeing the right people.  they managed to extract the sleeping problems, nightmares, flashbacks, feelings of isolation and generally 'going mad'.  Anger management didn't work for me but they feel it is underlying PTSD that is causing my problems (I'm shaking and sweating bullets whilst I'm typing this).  It was finally the catalist of the depression and self harm and verbalised suicidal tendencies, following the trouble at work that encouraged my wife to push me to the Doctors and after 15+ years of being a nightmare there is light at the end of the tunnel.  It's going to be a long journey and they are all baby steps but just having a diagnosis helps.
Take Care

Pete

 

Date:

30 Aug 2005

Time:

14:51

Comments

I was bullied in training by my training instructors. I was suffocated with a plastic bag over my head and then water then poured down my throat then the plastic bag over my head while the water was still in my mouth this went on for about half an hour I then had my pants pulled down and my penis pulled with a pair of pliers, shouting asking me 'what's the fucking password' interrogation they called it? I now suffer with ptsd and have had it now for 10years I need help with legal action? help me

If you would like to email me in confidence via Andy@ptsd.org.uk then I will try and advice you and steer you towards the right people who can help you.

Andy

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Definition

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a natural emotional reaction to a deeply shocking and disturbing experience. It is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation.