Armistice Appeal 2022
PTSD - A Generation Apart
Armistice is a deeply meaningful time of year for military veterans like us. Between us, we’ve served in many different conflicts: Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Yemen and Northern Ireland. We’re proud to have helped the Armed Forces secure the safety of our society. But we’ve paid the price with our mental health.
We’re from different generations and we served at different times, but our experiences in the services left us both with military trauma.
We’ve both battled PTSD, and all that it brings. We both felt our lives starting to fall apart. But thanks to the kindness and loyalty of people like you, Combat Stress could be there for us when we needed it most.
Your support has made all the difference in the past, helping veterans like us to get life-changing, life-saving help. As we honour those who have served this Armistice, please would you consider a gift to Combat Stress?
Scott's Story
“When I left the Army, I thought I was finished and there was nothing more here for me, but Combat Stress has given me a second chance”
“I enlisted in the Army in 1989 when I was 17 and started my training at 18. My friends were getting into trouble and I didn’t want to go down that route, so I went to a recruitment centre and accepted their offer of joining the Army.
“I joined the Parachute Regiment before serving with the Royal Scots and Royal Logistics Corps during my 22 years with the Army. I served all over the world including two tours of Iraq, two of Afghanistan as well as tours to Bosnia, Kosovo, and Northern Ireland.
“I’d initially signed up for three years, but I really enjoyed it – both the good and the bad. But once I got back from Bosnia my parents and wife noticed a big change in me.
“I was still serving when I was diagnosed with PTSD after 18 years in the Army. My role was downgraded to desk jobs and eventually gardening leave, as I didn’t have long left to serve. I was able to push on through to my 22 years’ service.
“About nine months after I left the Army I was living in the south when I approached Combat Stress at Leatherhead for help. I was drinking heavily at the time to cope with life outside the Army so they couldn’t help me at that time.
“I moved to Edinburgh, but I started getting into trouble with the police and attempted suicide twice. A doctor saw I had serious mental health issues and asked me to contact Combat Stress again. By that point my drinking was under control, so in 2011 I contacted them.
“The Combat Stress team identified that I had multiple triggers from Afghanistan, Bosnia and Iraq, but the main one was Bosnia so I undertook a six-week course with the charity. Halfway through treatment my wife, mum, dad and brother visited me. They said it was really useful, as it gave them a better understanding of the ongoing battle I was having mentally.
“I completed the course and left totally different. I understood that I was never going to be the person I was before the Army, but I was going to be ok. My family and friends saw the difference in me as a person who was able to deal with the triggers that come every day. Combat Stress took me to where I am today.
“I’d hurt my back in the Army and was told to find a sport that I enjoyed to help with my recovery. That sport was golf, so I joined the On Course Foundation, which supports the recovery of injured Service personnel and veterans through golf. I played with other veterans and took to it very well.
“They approached me about an opportunity for soldiers to learn to caddie through Caddie School for Soldiers, which I accepted. I completed the course and passed very well in 2019, when the caddie master of St Andrews Link offered me a job. I never looked back and I’m now training soldiers how to caddie.
“When I left the Army, I couldn’t even speak to a doctor, or leave the house. But the course at Combat Stress gave me the skills to speak to other people – not as well as everyone else, but they’ve given me the tools to manage.
“That’s the reason why I now fundraise for the charity, so other veterans have the care that I received. I’ve done several big events over the years and soon I’m taking part in the Edinburgh Kiltwalk.
“Combat Stress changed everything for me. When I left the Army, I thought I was finished and there was nothing more here for me but Combat Stress has given me a second chance. This is just the start of a second chapter.”
June 2022
Andrew's Story
"I found myself going back into the theatres of war, going through the awful events all over again"
“I joined the Army aged 15 in 1962. At age 20 I was in Aden, fighting in the Yemen. During my time there, I was the driver of a patrol vehicle and we were ambushed. The vehicle was blown up and my body was filled with shrapnel. I was in hospital for a few weeks recovering but then back on duty.
“After Aden, I did constant tours of Northern Ireland – five in total. During these tours I was ambushed again several times and also shot at but we were just told to carry on, there was no counselling back in the day.
“In total I served for 24 years and I then went to work for the Sultan of Oman, teaching military skills to the Royal Guard. I really enjoyed this job but after 12 years I decided it was time to move back to the UK.
“I got married and found a job – life was good. After relocating to Edinburgh I found a new job at the University as part of the security team. But after experiencing an electric shock whilst doing my job, my whole world changed – it opened a can of worms for me. I found myself going back into the theatres of war, going through the awful events all over again. Flashbacks and nightmares – these had never happened before but suddenly I was experiencing them.
“It was one of my colleagues who, after I told him about my symptoms, suggested I contact Combat Stress. I remember him saying ‘if they can’t help you, no one can’.
“I can truly say Combat Stress is a wonderful organisation. Thanks to Kerry, one of the senior nurses at the charity, I was brought back from a very dark place to a place of hope. Kerry has helped me enormously – with her help and by using the charity’s specialist sensory modulation technique, I now have a ‘box of tricks’ I can turn to when I need to. The items in the box have been carefully chosen to bring me down / back to reality after a flashback or nightmare.
“I’ve also found the peer support service invaluable – it’s been so helpful to spend time with other veterans who have experienced similar mental health issues to me.”
January 2022