LIFE AS WE KNOW IT - MHAW
LIFE AS WE KNOW IT
Mental Health Awareness Week (15-21 May 2023)
COMMUNICATION PACK FOR PARTNERS
Revealing the day-to-day reality for veterans living with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Life as we Know It: Living with PTSD is a new campaign from Combat Stress aimed at raising awareness of the hidden triggers that we take for granted in everyday life that can affect veterans with PTSD.
Featuring photography and raw, personal and unguarded video interviews with five veterans the campaign highlights the day-to-day reality of living with PTSD, and how ordinary things we take for granted, like taking a bus, walking through a park, shopping in a supermarket and sleeping in a bed can be anything but ‘normal life’ for them.
Five veterans, aged from 33-64, who served in conflicts including the Falklands, Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan, share their stories. You can find out more at https://living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk
They have all been treated by Combat Stress and have gone on to rebuild their lives – becoming lecturers and artists – gaining the skills, techniques and tools to manage their PTSD, there are still many hidden triggers in civilian life but we need your help.
By sharing their experiences, we hope that we can help veterans, and their family and friends, seek the help and support they need. We know that on average it can take a veteran 14 years to come forward, so we could really appreciate your support to get the message out there through your networks and channels.
In this pack, you will find adaptable content for various communications channels, including social media posts, newsletter copy and a short news article for websites and blogs. You are of course welcome to adapt this to suit your organisation’s tone and messaging.
The campaign was made possible thanks to the generosity of professional photographer Tom Skipp, who donated his time free of charge.
If you have any questions or require further information, please contact: conor.walsh@combatstress.org.uk
Key messages:
- Untreated, PTSD can drive some veterans to breaking point. Through Life as We Know it: Living with PTSD
- We want to encourage veterans, and their family and friends to come forward and make the first, difficult call to get the help they need rather than reliving their traumatic military experience for decades before reaching breaking point.
- Asking for help is hard but it is not a sign of weakness
- Combat Stress gives veterans the tools, skill and resources to manage living with PTSD but there are many hidden triggers in civilian life
- The recent census results show that 4% of the population has served in the armed forces, with 1 in 25 being veterans. 17% of those have severe mental health issues.
Davina’s Story
Long form post
“Going under or over a bridge part of me thinks 'I hope this doesn't blow up'.” @CombatStress campaign #LivingWithPTSD highlights how things we take for granted can provoke horrible memories for veterans. For veteran Davina bridges transport her back to the battlefield - https://living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk/#section-davina
Shorter form copy for Twitter
“Going under or over a bridge part of me thinks I hope this doesn't blow up.” @CombatStress campaign #LivingWithPTSD highlights how things we take for granted can trigger horrible memories for veterans. For Davina bridges transport her back to battle - https://living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk/#section-davina
Garry’s Story:
Long form post
“The challenges I face is pretty much getting out the house every day.”
After leaving the military, Garry was in a constant state of hyperarousal. Then, three years ago on Bonfire Night, everything came to a head when the fireworks made him feel like he was back on the battlefield again.
A poignant new campaign by veteran mental health charity @CombatStress is highlighting the realities of #LivingWithPTSD as five veterans share their stories of facing up to and overcoming military trauma. Read veteran Garry’s story, and explore the campaign, at https://living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk/#section-garry
Shorter form copy for Twitter
“The challenges I face is pretty much getting out the house every day.” A poignant new campaign by veteran mental health charity @CombatStress highlights the reality of #LivingWithPTSD. Five veterans share their story in the campaign. Read Garry’s story at https://living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk/#section-garry
Assets
For additional assets to help promote our Living With PTSD campaign, please call 01372 587 165 or email pressoffice@combatstress.org.uk and a member of our PR team would be happy to provide further information.
Newsletter content
For veterans with PTSD, very often there’s no such thing as normal life. Going to the supermarket, a walk in the woods, a family BBQ, watching the news – all of these very ordinary activities can be hidden triggers, taking a veteran straight back to their traumatic experiences in the military.
Without our help, lives can become desperate as veterans struggle to avoid their triggers in everyday life. The resulting anxiety, anger, depression, isolation, alcohol and drug misuse, and in some cases suicide – all can tear families apart, destroy relationships and devastate lives.
Combat Stress’ new campaign, ‘Life as we know it: Living with PTSD’, highlights the day-to-day reality for veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder. The five veterans featured in the campaign have gone on to rebuild their lives – becoming lecturers and artists - and have gained the skills, techniques and tools to manage their PTSD.
Find out more by visiting: living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk
BLOG NEWS ARTICLE
A walk in the woods, a summer BBQ, an evening in front of the TV. These are things many enjoy. But for some veterans, these things can trigger traumatic memories and transport them back to a moment in conflict. Combat Stress has launched ‘Life as we know it: Living with PTSD’, which highlights the day-to-day reality of living with post-traumatic stress disorder
Five veterans, aged from 33-64, who served in conflicts including the Falklands, Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan, shared their stories. Featuring photography and raw, personal and unguarded video interviews discover how long it took some veterans to seek help and the devastating impact PTSD had on them and their loved ones.
The veterans featured in the campaign have all been treated by Combat Stress and have gone on to rebuild their lives – becoming lecturers and artists - and have gained the skills, techniques and tools to manage their PTSD, but there are many hidden triggers in civilian life.
Jeff Harrison, Chief Executive of Combat Stress, said: “We hope this campaign will resonate with veterans out there and encourage them to seek help, as well as increase public understanding of how PTSD is something that can affect even the most ordinary aspects of daily life.”
The campaign was made possible professional photographer Tom Skipp, who donated his time free of charge to Combat Stress as he wanted to raise awareness of mental health following the death of his best friend by suicide.
We urge anyone affected by the campaign to call Combat Stress’ 24-hour Helpline 0800 138 1619.
Find out more by visiting: living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk
For media professionals:
If you’re a media professional and you’d like to help promote our Living With PTSD campaign, please call 01372 587 165 or email pressoffice@combatstress.org.uk and a member of our PR team would be happy to provide further information.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Please ensure you tag Combat Stress in all social media posts and please tag Tom Skipp on Instagram. A full list of Combat Stress handles and Tom’s handle for Instagram is as follows:
Instagram Collaborator Post:
To maximise audience reach for both parties, we’d really appreciate it if there is an opportunity for your Digital team to create a Collaborator post with Combat Stress on Instagram.
To do this, all you need to do is create a post in the same way you usually would, but before posting go to ‘Tag People’ and then ‘Invite Collaborator’ and in the search bar enter ‘Combat Stress’ (see screenshots below for step-by-step instructions).
This will trigger a notification our end on Instagram. We will then accept the request and the post will automatically appear in our Instagram Grid, as well as yours, giving a greater organic reach for the post.