PTSD Netherlands, After the Battle

After the battle
Radio Netherlands - Netherlands
After the battle
Soldiers dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
by Chris Chambers
25-07-2008
Ex-sergeant marine Peter Bercx's life is improving. He has a stable job and is studying for a qualification in business management. But it hasn't always been like that. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) came close to destroying him. He tells his story of guns, drugs and psychiatrists.

Peter Bercx Peter Bercx is a big man. You wouldn't want to mess with his hundred-kilo frame. In his current job as a conflict trouble-shooter for a bus company you can easily imagine that he can stop a fight just with his stare. Peter was one of the elite in the Dutch army, a marine with commando training and the right to wear the prestigious green beret. His military career began in 1981 and he was sent as part of a peacekeeping force to Cambodia and Bosnia. The mental problems started then and have continued ever since.
Black-outs
His career ended after one of his ‘black-outs'. He went berserk after seeing one of his colleagues as a potential enemy, slashing his own chest and slamming the knife into the barrack door. The next morning he remembered nothing but he was chucked out of the military. Then began the meetings with psychiatrists and the long road towards stability."Now that I control [PTSD] with medication and think about what I'm doing, I avoid certain people and alcohol. It's a way of life, because I'm getting almost close to accepting that I'm sick. When you step on a mine you loose your leg or your arm.
It's harsh, but with a mental illness people don't see that and when you're a marine you're meant to be a tough person and it's very difficult to live up to that." People started to avoid me. They saw a different Peter. Only my closest friends are still present. People didn't understand, which was also my failure because I didn't talk about it. But why should I talk to civilians, why would they have to understand my problems?"
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