Had I been able to get myself to the Humber Bridge, it was 100' of rope and two pints of petrol with a film crew!

Unless they start doing Pyschmetric Testing and soon with Combat Stress with over 1,000 waiting lists and talk of bumping the older ones to get the Sand War lads and lasses in, so it looks as if the NHS might actually be doing something . . . there is always a first time for everything BUT bumping the older ones, IF only they had a service that could cope with Combat PTSD such as the US of A and the Aussies, we would be treated equally and fairly

Without sounding flippant, I think a lot of it is to do with where the affected guy ends up as well.

If he has buggered off on leave and is (as an example) from a Regiment or Corps that is recruited from alas uber der platz, he is unlikely to meet people with a similar mindset. I honestly think that having seen this a few times now that this seems to be the biggest problem, no one of similar ilk to talk to, no one that can relate to Army life, ethos and thinking and ending up with a bunch of civvies who's first question is "did you ever kill anyone?"

Whilst trying to atone for my sins and buy my way into Heaven, I have met a few like this recently. After listening and then dragging them out of their doldrums with a few well aimed p1ss takes and insults, followed by a few shandy chasers down the RBL, I have physically seen a change take place.

I was actually at it the night before last and ended up not getting up till very, very late as we had a lock in in the RBL and then the guilty party ended up back at mine laughing at what I was posting on ARRSE, hence me not getting up until 1400 yesterday and now my sleep pattern is fcuked ;)

Being in the RBL, surrounded by guys ranging from 40 to 90, who were veterans from all sorts of sh1te, he could have a laugh (my local RBL is still split into 2 by the way, "A" and "O" members, squaddies in one bar, civvies in the other). There was p1ss taking about limbs being blown off, people dying, people being deafened or blinded, people being crippled, watching the effects of Arty, you name it, it was discussed. A few quiet moments that lasted for about a second, followed by a lot of laughter and more p1ss taking.

Listening to an Afghan veteran being told he was a big girls blouse because he had only been shot once, and then hearing him told that his two mates that had been killed in the same action would also think he was a girl by an old boy that had been in Korea, lost a leg and had his entire section wiped out, was a laugh.

He was surrounded by a load of guys, regardless of age, that had got the Tshirt. It was never even thought that the deaths or injuries were a laugh, it was just the "ethos" of fellow soldiers talking about their exploits that was a laugh. I hope that makes sense.

I've still got a few things to sort out with this particular guy, but talking to his own seems to have lifted his spirits no end.

The moral of the story? Get soldiers to look after soldiers. Fund the organisations that do have soldiers looking after soldiers, anything else is just outsiders interfering.

Originally Posted by Aunty Stella

The moral of the story? Get soldiers to look after soldiers. Fund the organisations that do have soldiers looking after soldiers, anything else is just outsiders interfering.

This is just what I told my MP on Saturday, as well as getting the local MIND offices to open their doors to have meetings for the ex services run by the ex services, that who have something of a handle of what Combat PTSD is and it's affects on the families too.

This may not always be the RBL / SSAFA / CS, so this service has to be from those who have served and have known first hand how it had affect you and your loved ones. At least you have empathy and not the drivvling sympathy you get from some!

We need to be lifted NOT spread . . . .

Aunty Stella,

good post and we are our own best medicine

Originally Posted by Azrael2006

Forgot to add that the system on the Mental Health is the same as any other areas of the DMS, grossly undermanned and being propped up by hiring civilians who have the academic qualifications and the goodwill but probably don't have the specific experience needed by the patients (Soldiers)

It actually isn't and is one of the better manned areas of DMS currently. Equally the civilian prctitioners are just as good as the military ones at giving the required CBT. You don't need to be a soldier/airman/naval person to be effective in this role.

The best CBT practitioner I've ever seen working with soldiers is a civilian working for a DCMH.

Originally Posted by psychobabble

The best CBT practitioner I've ever seen working with soldiers is a civilian working for a DCMH.

One civilian in how many centers across the UK, with the need growing weekly if not daily, perhaps too little too late?

I have spoken by phone with many who have made contact over the past couple of months, to a man, they say that even at Combat Stress, the practitioners, some are good, some are pretty poor and all agree that if you are faced with a none military experianced clinician, you will not build the trust with that individual, as he / she has no experiance, even if they have read the book and seeen the movie of what the "Military Experiance" is to the full. From the first day you walk through the camps gates, to where you are now and that very intense passage of time.

Perhaps the services out there are doing as they are told by central governmemnt and not listening to the individual experiances and attepting to them and not the dictat from Whitehall!

Psychobabble,

CBT as well as a raft of other methods are part of what I classed as the academic qualifications, the ability to apply these effectively to an individual or motivate them comes from understanding the individual and their condition. Giving CBT is one thing, getting the individual to take it on board and make them understand how important the coping mechanisms are in improving their daily lives is another...

I admit that the civilian practitioners can be very effective, but its not normally the ones that have only been working in the DCMHs for a month or two is it? Lets face it putting a clinician in Green, Dark Blue or Light Blue does not make them a leader in their field, that doesn't happen anywhere in life. Its down to the quality of the individual and their knowledge and understanding of their patients, in this case the understanding of military life and its "unique" pressures.

The civilian practitioner you mention, how long have they been working with the military? A few years or a few months....

Another point is it's not just the quality of the care that people get on a weekly/fortnightly basis, just as important is the support they get from the CoC and family. You can have great care but if your environment away from the treatment is continually reinforcing negativity and worthlessness then you are on a loser. I would also guess its the same the other way around as well....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...-epidemic.html

CON... says Oliver James


Many people feel that New Labour is only really good at one thing: spin-doctoring away uncomfortable facts. It won’t surprise them to learn that its favourite therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), is not a real cure, it’s just a form of personal spin.

CBT is essentially positive thinking. Unlike traditional psychotherapy, CBT does not dwell on past events. It focuses on the patient’s fearful and negative thoughts - the therapist helps the patient deal with these by thinking positively. It takes between six and 16 sessions, but by the end, the patient is ‘cured’.

Being cheap, quick and simplistic, CBT naturally appeals to the Government. Yet the fact is, it doesn’t work.

Two years ago when the Department of Health announced it was investing £173 million in CBT, a press release claimed that the therapy permanently cures half of people with depression. But this was downright dishonest. There is not a single scientific study which supports that claim.
The truth about the evidence is that the average patient is still depressed after treatment. Work by the eminent U.S. psychologist Professor Drew Weston and others found that two years after treatment, two-thirds of those who had CBT have relapsed or sought further help.

Findings for anxiety are similar; a large Scottish study, published in 2005, found that only 18 per cent of patients who had received the therapy for anxiety still had no symptoms two years after treatment.

If given no treatment, most people with depression drift in and out of it. After 18 months, those given CBT have no better mental health than ones who have been untreated.

CBT isn't about curing your depression, its about giving you "coping mechanisms" Which allows you to deal with the anxiety that comes with whatever is causing it. Its not about addressing the root causes

Therefore, with many deep seated problem that you have kept in denial, how do this government believe that CBT is the way forward in the treatment of those who clinically have Combat PTSD.

Where Combat PTSD have many triggers,. it's not just base upon ONE experiance, an RTA, or a mugging! I agree a little that some women who have been in a abusive relationship could be helped with EMDR, she could also have walked away from the scum beating her up, WE can't.

It is also the collateral damage that Combat PTSD does to ALL those around you, it take a very brave and committed woman to stay with the man she once loved, who on his return from conflict is a changed person, hence now ALL the marriage breakdowns / diviorces with the military families.