For Many the Battle Continues - digital
DEMAND FOR OUR SERVICES IS THE HIGHEST IN YEARS
Each year, thousands of veterans contact Combat Stress for support with PTSD, depression, and other mental health issues. Over the last three years demand for our services has increased 44%.
Our specialist mental health treatment not only changes lives but saves them too.
You can help make a difference to those ordinary people who have had extraordinary experiences and need our expert support to tackle their past so they can take on the future.
Help us deliver award-winning specialist treatment
Today, many veterans continue to struggle with the psychological impact of past conflicts, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, and more are reaching out to Combat Stress for the first time. For those who can't leave their experiences behind, Combat Stress offers the UK’s only award-winning intensive mental health service specifically for veterans, supporting them with specialised treatment to reclaim their lives.
Your donation today empowers us to deliver life-changing care, providing veterans the tools to manage their mental health and pursue recovery. With your help, we can continue offering this vital, transformative support that no one else provides.
Our proven specialist treatment can transform lives.
We must each play our part in ensuring the future of specialist mental health support is protected for the very men and women who have served this country. By giving financial support or fundraising, you will save lives and families.
Army veteran, Julian.
Julian joined the Army a week after his 16th birthday and saw active service in the Falklands two years later. A gunshot wound to his leg limited his service career and he left the Army after six years due to ongoing physical health problems.
Back on Civvy Street, Julian became a secondary school teacher but his behaviour was erratic. “I drank heavily, was aggressive and often got into fights when I was out,” he says. “I didn’t think anything was wrong and friends just thought it was the way I was.”
Julian’s partner pointed out his erratic behaviour, but he couldn’t see it. “I had many more years of denial ahead of me,” he says.
After hearing about Combat Stress at an Army reunion, 25 years after he went to the Falklands Julian sought our help. “Treatment isn’t a magic wand,” he says. “I still have horrible feelings but, thanks to Combat Stress, I now have the armoury to do something in the here and now to help myself.”
Army veteran, Simon
Simon’s life-long dreams of joining the Army became a reality in 1999 when he left the Royal Sandhurst Military Academy and joined the Kings Own Scottish Borderers regiment. In 2003 he was deployed to Iraq - his experiences there changed his life.
Simon spent another 10 years in the Army, before being made redundant in 2013. Once back on Civvy Street he started to struggle. Simon became angry and fractious in his relationships and retreated into himself, avoiding friends and family. “I felt like I was on my own, I didn’t have anyone around me that I could talk to,” he says.
This went on for years until in 2022 a veteran colleague at work suggested speaking to Combat Stress. Simon looked on our website and realised he needed help. “I called the Helpline and the advisor was amazing,” he says. “She immediately took me down from this feeling of ‘I can’t go on, I’m losing my family, I’m better off elsewhere’ to realising I wasn’t alone, and people could help.”
Simon says our treatment has helped him enormously. “I can manage my anger a lot better and I’m moving forward again,” he says.
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Average age of veterans we treat
Number of veterans benefited from our help in past twelve months
