Post-trauma days of living different lives as survivors,

Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

December 4, 2021

If you listen to any news program, the chances are, you have no idea what is going on when it comes to PTSD. Until we do, finally, understand that while the causes of PTSD are different, what comes after in the Post-trauma days of living different lives as survivors, will remain the silent suffering of millions around the world.

Survivors had been suffering in silence long before I came along into this life. The issue that grieves me most of all, is the simple fact that none of it had to happen.

None of it will change until we actually manage to change the conversation we're having, and what we settle for the press continuing to ignore.

I read, what are considered to be, strange things all the time. It makes sense to me because as a survivor, I am strange to others, and I'm OK with that. What give me more comfort is the fact that when I read strange things, I find how much we as humans surviving life, are all linked together.

Reading "Front-line healthcare workers at risk of suffering from PTSD", on The Morning Star covered what is happening with healthcare workers facing the continued battle against the pandemic. They are expecting over 200,000 new cases of survivors dealing with PTSD. It shows what most experts know.

Professor Neil Greenberg, a PTSD specialist at the college, said: “It’s a common misunderstanding that only people in the armed forces can develop PTSD — anyone exposed to a traumatic event is at risk.

“However, clearly there are jobs, including working in many healthcare settings, where experiencing traumatic events is more common so the risk of developing PTSD is unfortunately much higher.”

“Early and effective support can reduce the likelihood of PTSD and those affected should be able to access evidence-based treatment in a timely manner,” Prof Greenberg added.

Yes, you read that right. It isn't just about people in the military. PTSD strikes survivors, no matter what they survived. The problem with the article is that it also strikes people going about their daily lives when something happened to them without warning, leaving them to wonder if it was such a good thing they survived it or not.

PTSD from occupations also hit all over the world. Keep in mind that these people are still facing life as the rest of us, and then their jobs are piled onto their shoulders taking care of the rest of us, and all too often, each other as well.

Here in the US, our healtcare providers are dealing with the same linked traumas. For providers with PTSD, the trauma of COVID-19 isn’t over by the Association of American Medical Colleges

Even before the pandemic, 16% of emergency physicians self-reported symptoms of PTSD. Recent data, including an unpublished survey conducted in the fall of 2020 and presented at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting in May, suggest that as many as 36% of front-line physicians suffer from the condition. And that statistic omits those who don’t meet strict diagnostic criteria but have still experienced powerful psychological effects. “Health care workers had to worry about not having enough beds, not having enough ventilators. They had to move into fields they didn’t know,” says Jessica Gold, MD, a psychiatrist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who treats physicians. “They saw their colleagues die or had to intubate their co-workers, and they had to worry about ending up that way themselves. Those are huge traumas.”

The article points out many differnt, important points, however, this one applies to everyone suffering as survivors of the causes of our traumas.

For providers suffering from PTSD and the hospitals that rely on them, what lies ahead is unclear. Once a person develops PTSD, it can last for years. More than a decade after the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, 27% of police responders were still suffering symptoms, for example. But certain treatments, including anti-anxiety medication and cognitive behavioral therapy, have been shown to help. Bankhead-Kendall certainly finds her therapy useful. For one, she’s learned to cry more. “My counselor told me I needed to not keep things bottled up, and to grieve, so when I’m feeling really sad, I find an appropriate place and I cry,” she says. “It seems really simple, kind of silly, but it helps.”

It doesn't seem silly to me, or any of the other people out there getting the right kind of information about healing. We have to let out the pain before we can heal hope.

If you have PTSD, get  help to heal and then pass it on. If you read something in your favorite news source and they get something wrong, let them know what the truth is. If they get it right, praise them so they continue to be beneficial to other survivors.

Reach out to anyone, no matter what caused their PTSD and understand it is not a contest between who is suffering more, but is a quest to help them gain strength from your experiences. Be the miracle for others the way you had someone start yours!

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD.

UK:Ministry of Defence shut down a phone hotline for veterans just as need for help increased

Suicidal military veterans desperate for help as support calls triple during lockdown

The Mirror
BySean Rayment
10 MAY 2020

Rifleman Nathan Worner, 20, of the Rifles Regiment, was found dead at Bulford Camp, Wiltshire, last week.

Simon Maryan of Icarus Online (Image: Icarus Online)

Calls for help from mentally traumatised military veterans have soared by 100 per cent since the start of the lockdown, the Sunday People can reveal.

Support groups have been inundated with calls from suicidal veterans and current troops struggling to cope with isolation caused by the Covid-19 crisis.

Many of those seeking help have mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.

Two veterans and a serving member of the Army have taken their lives in the past two weeks.

The deaths bring to at least 22 the number of veterans and serving members who are believed to have killed themselves since the start of the year.

The mental health crisis comes just weeks after the Ministry of Defence shut down a phone hotline for veterans and told them to ring the Samaritans instead.

The MoD has also stopped ­taking compensation claims from troops and veterans suffering from mental health conditions and physical injuries.
read it here

Widow thinks males need support to speak up about needing help?

We failed at too much for too long!

When you know how long people have been openly talking about PTSD, discovering a widow seems to think it is just males who need to speak up...it proves we failed!

Anil wasn't diagnosed with PTSD until four years after he left the armed forces (Image: Hull Daily Mail)

Army veteran Anil Carbon took his own life in February 2019 after finding it hard to adjust to civilian life.

Anil was suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder, but wasn't diagnosed with it until four years after he left the armed forces.

Despite having symptoms, he would always say "I'm fine, it's nothing".

Now his wife Myshelle Carbon wants to raise awareness of men's mental health and how important it is that men feel they can speak up, reports Hull Live.
read it here

Reminder, females have higher rates of PTSD and suicide!

UK: Combat Stress Charity hit hard by cuts from NHS

Veterans' charity Combat Stress stops new referrals over funding crisis

BBC
By Jonathan Beale
Januray 25, 2020

All new referrals will now be redirected to the NHS, which Combat Stress said "needs to demonstrate" it can deal with the additional demands.

A leading mental health charity for military veterans says it will not be able to take any new cases in England and Wales, because of a funding crisis.

Combat Stress said its income has fallen from £16m to £10m in the current financial year partly due to cuts in NHS funding support.

The charity had been receiving around 2,000 referrals for treatment a year.

The NHS said new specialist services for ex-soldiers have helped more than 10,000 people to date.

The NHS said in a statement its "number one priority is providing the best care for veterans".

NHS England had previously commissioned Combat Stress to provide a six-week residential programme, providing them with more than £3m funding a year.

After consulting veterans and their families as part of a review, it has decided instead to use this money on new services, including community-based help.
read it here
UPDATE

UK veteran trying to make a difference for 10 young children who have to live the rest of their lives without their dads.

The former soldier who lost three of his best friends within months

Wales Online
By Katie Bellis Video Journalist
21 JAN 2020

Sean, who is from Wrexham, is speaking out about the impact working in the Army has had on him and why he is trying to make a difference to 10 young children who have to live the rest of their lives without their dads.

Sean Gregory and friend Lyndon Barton are raising money to make a difference to the lives of the children who've lost their fathers (Image: Sean Gregory)

A former soldier has described the heartache of losing four of his best friends, who were all servicemen, to suicide and tragic accidents - three of them in under a year.

Sean Gregory served in the British Army between 2003 and 2013.

Over the years he says he's known 20 soldiers, 19 of those men were from across Wales, who have died in tragic accidents or sadly taken their own lives after suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

And four of those men he describes as "brothers" to him. All of them leave behind young children.

The aim of this is to help pay for a holiday for the children of his friends who have passed away or "whatever they may need to bring a smile to their faces".
read it here

UK: escalating number of armed forces heroes taking their lives

News campaign sees results as MPs agree to discuss military veteran suicides

Portsmouth News UK
Danny Johnston TOM COTTERILL
28 March 2019

THE true scale of the UK’s suicide epidemic among its veteran community will be exposed to MPs after campaigners secured a parliamentary debate on the crisis. For months The News has been lobbying the government to do more to address the escalating number of armed forces heroes taking their lives. Viv Johnston, mother of special forces hero Danny Johnston

Daniel Arnold and Stephen James, founders of armed forces support network All Call Signs. Photo: Ian Hargreaves

Now, following our campaign and efforts by military groups from Portsmouth, city MP Stephen Morgan has finally secured an official Westminster debate on the issue. Set to take place on Wednesday afternoon, it will see politicians discussing the crisis and working out how to address it. 

Portsmouth South MP Mr Morgan was ‘pleased’ to have achieved the Westminster hearing, and said: ‘This will be an excellent opportunity to show the government that more needs to be done to protect our serving men and women, and veterans. ‘It is clear ministers are letting down our armed forces personnel by not properly recording veteran suicide and I believe much of the support offered needs drastic improvement.
read more here

UK Vets tanks PTSD on civvy street

Veterans join forces to combat PTSD by restoring 1960s tank

Ipswich Star UK
Amy Gibbons
February 10, 2019

“So the idea is to get these guys who are maybe suffering from PTSD or just from being lonely in civvy street and want to come down and be around military personnel again.”

From left to right: Paul Werden-Hutchinson, Brian Munro, Dave Taylor, Dusty Duddridge, Thomas Young and Duncan Mansfield with the Chieftan tank they are restoring at Raydon Airfield Picture: Neil Didsbury

An Army veteran who served across two continents is heading up a project to restore a priceless piece of British history in an effort to help ex-servicemen cope with PTSD. Duncan Mansfield, who served in Ireland, Germany, Belize and Canada, bought a 1960s Chieftan Tank two years ago – and has now made it his mission to restore the vehicle to its former glory.

The 1960's Chieftan tank which is being restored at Raydon Airfield Picture: Neil Didsbury

Based at Raydon Airfield near Ipswich, the project serves as an opportunity for ex-servicemen living with loneliness or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to spend time in a semi-military environment, where they can begin to process their experiences and get to know like-minded veterans.

Speaking about the idea behind the restoration group, Mr Mansfield said: “When you leave the armed forces it’s such a culture shock to come back into civvy street, and a lot of the guys really miss working with old soldiers again and being around them and having the same experiences.

“So the idea is to get these guys who are maybe suffering from PTSD or just from being lonely in civvy street and want to come down and be around military personnel again.”
read more here

UK Study, Gulf War Syndrome being passed onto children

Veterans with debilitating Gulf War Syndrome may have passed it on to children

Mirror UK
By Grace Macaskill
JAN 2019

The American study, funded by the US Veterans Affairs department, will step up the pressure. Dr Michael Falvo, lead researcher at the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, said the findings were the “first direct biological evidence”

EXCLUSIVE: Stricken families say they want the Ministry of Defence to recognise the condition as the British Legion says it believes 30,000 may be suffering

Medical research has revealed troops who served in Iraq are more likely to have damage to DNA (Image: PA)

British forces veterans suffering Gulf War Syndrome may have given it to their children.

New medical research has revealed troops who served in Iraq are more likely to have damage to DNA that could be passed on during reproduction.

Experts in the US – where the illness is recognised – claim to have found the first proof of a biological link to debilitating symptoms suffered by servicemen involved in the 1990-1991 conflict.

Almost 75 per cent of the 53,000 UK soldiers there were given an anthrax vaccine. Many were also exposed to depleted uranium in some weapons.

Thousands reported a raft of disorders on their return home, including extreme fatigue, dizziness, strange rashes, nerve pain and memory loss – and the British Legion believes 30,000 may be suffering from the syndrome.

And more and more affected families are reporting that their children have developed terrifying symptoms of conditions that can be passed on genetically.

Now they are demanding the Ministry of Defence acts on the latest research and recognises Gulf War Syndrome.
read more here

Combat Stress says that the service desperately needs funds to keep it afloat

If you are donating to the "awareness" groups, you are part of the problem this group is facing. They are doing the work to change lives.

Vital 24-hour helpline for military veterans suffering with PTSD faces the axe

The Mirror UK
By Nicola Small
DEC 29, 2018

Chris, 48, said: “I had to build up the courage to pick up the phone because it takes a lot to admit you need help.

Northern Ireland veteran Chris Batty, 48, from Sunderland (Image: Mirrorpix)

A life-saving helpline for veterans battling with PTSD may have to axe its 24-hour operation because of a cash crisis.

Combat Stress says its round-the-clock service desperately needs funds.

Last year it handled more than 12,500 calls – up 24 per cent in a year.

But in March the NHS cut ­£3.2million of Combat Stress’s overall funding – a fifth of its income.

The charity has already reduced its vital residential care programmes.

And now bosses have appealed through the Sunday People for public donations to keep its helpline available at all times.

They chose us because of our Save Our Soldiers campaign, which calls for a radical overhaul of how the Government and military top brass handle post-traumatic stress.

Carol Smith, Combat Stress director of client services, said: “We absolutely do not want to reduce the hours.

“Our helpline is the first port of call for veterans seeking help and it is really important they are able to contact us at any time of the day or night.

“A lot of calls are made at night because often people with mental health conditions find it difficult to sleep. Many have told us that if they hadn’t made that call they wouldn’t be here today.

“We have enough funding to see us through to April because we have been fortunate enough to receive a couple of legacies.

“But after that everything depends on how much money we are able to raise.”
read more here

Grenfell Tower blaze aftermath firefighter lost job

Hero Grenfell Tower firefighter 'I have been cast out of a job I love'

THE DAILY MAIL
By KATHRYN KNIGHT
7 December 2018

Charlie Kaye was one of hundreds of firemen at Grenfell Tower blaze aftermath
Nine months later he ran into a burning building in a desperate bid to save a man
Mr Kaye, 32, contravened Fire Brigade rules as he entered without his partner
His heroism led to a dismissal for contravening health and safety regulations

Like many dedicated firefighters, Charlie Kaye has spent his professional life propelled by two instincts — to save lives and help others.

Charlie Kaye (centre left) was one of four firefighters to receive a prestigious Borough Commander’s Award for bravery for helping to save a woman who had collapsed from a blood clot

In ten years of distinguished service he’s battled blazes all over London and attended harrowing road and rail accidents — each one leaving its mark.

‘I have lost count of the number of fatal incidents I’ve attended. Each one eats away at you a little,’ he recalls. ‘But that’s the job.’

It’s a job which, in June last year, led him to one of the most distressing points of his career, when the 32-year-old was one of the hundreds of fireman to attend the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, helping to clear bodies from the wreckage of the West London tower block. The sights of that day are permanently seared on his mind — along with the guilt that this time, there was no chance of saving anyone.
read more here

Remote Controlled: Bodyguard and PTSD

Listen: Richard Madden Breaks Down Playing a ‘Bodyguard’ With PTSD

VARITY
By DANIELLE TURCHIANO
HOME TV FEATURES
NOVEMBER 30, 2018

Welcome to “Remote Controlled,” a podcast from Variety featuring the best and brightest in television, both in front of and behind the camera.

Richard Madden photographed exclusively for the Variety Remote Controlled Podcast DAN DOPERALSKI FOR VARIETY

In this week’s episode, “Bodyguard” star Richard Madden sits down with Variety‘s features editor of TV, Danielle Turchiano, to talk about playing a former soldier with PTSD, who is tasked with protecting Britain’s Home Secretary.

“In a lot of movies and television we see PTSD as someone closes a door too loud or a car backfires and our subject suddenly is transported back to Afghanistan in the middle of this fighting and men are dying,” Madden says. “That does happen sometimes for people with PTSD — they have flashbacks like that — but that’s not the only thing that happens.”

Madden shares that he was most interested in bringing to life the daily struggle of someone in that position — the anxiety and depression that comes with the disorder.
read more here

Week after attempted suicide, UK veteran succeeded

My son was left to die alone

The Express UK
By SIAN HEWITT
Nov 25, 2018

A GRIEVING mother has told of a string of failures that led to her war hero son killing himself. Danny Johnston of the Special Reconnaissance, sister unit of the SAS, took his own life in May while suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

PROUD... Danny loved his career in the Army but the force he served went on to ignore his plight (Image: Mark Kehoe)

"It is only since his death that I have been made aware of the incredible work he did," Mrs Johnston said. "He was a genuine hero." But Danny's career was cut short when, on leave, he was found with non-prescription Valium. Mrs Johnston said: "He never slept well. He had seen a lot - I still don't know the depths of what he witnessed but he used the Valium to sleep, only while he was off duty at home. But he was immediately discharged.

Now his mother Viv has revealed the blunders that led to the 35-year-old elite soldier's body being found in woodland near his home in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, three days after he went missing. Mrs Johnston reveals how: ? Danny had made an attempt on his life a week before his death but doctors failed to help him. She was forced to call for help from ex-Army colleagues to form a search party after an "inadequate" police response.

A police officer falsely announced on social media that Danny had been found, a mistake which resulted in search efforts dwindling while Danny was still missing.

Family friend and Coronation Street actor Daniel Brocklebank, who plays Billy Mayhew, joined in the search and also made a missing person's appeal on Twitter.

"Danny was too special to die alone the way he did," Mrs Johnston said. "He gave his all for this country, only to be completely let down in his hour of need.
read more here

10,000 torches in remembrance of WWI's End

10,000-torch display in London marks 100th anniversary of WWI's conclusion

ABC News
By DAVI MERCHAN LONDON
Nov 6, 2018

An installation commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the end of World War I has opened in London.

Yeoman Warders, commonly known as a "Beefeaters," stand by after lighting the first of thousands of flames in a lighting ceremony at the Tower of London, Nov. 4, 2018.

Called "Beyond the Deepening Shadow: The Tower Remembers" and featuring approximately 10,000 torches, each illuminated every evening by more than 250 volunteers, is an act of remembrance for the lives lost during the war.
read more here

Veteran with PTSD overcome by flyover during Invictus and comforted

Tears of a hero: The heartwarming moment Invictus competitors comfort a veteran whose PTSD was triggered by a helicopter flying overhead

Daily Mail Australia

Mark Brook

October 23, 2018

• A heartwarming moment at the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney has left spectators in tears
• Paul Guest, who suffers from PTSD became visibly upset during his wheelchair tennis match on Monday 
• The 54-year-old Navy serviceman was frightened by a helicopter flying overhead and became upset 
• Guest, who was comforted by his Dutch teammate Edwin Vermetten, was injured serving in Northern Ireland

Paul Guest (left) was so overcome with emotion he was unable to play and needed to be comforted by Dutch teammate Edwin Vermetten (right), who realised he was suffering

The touching moment an Invictus Games competitor comforted a fellow veteran suffering from PTSD has left spectators in tears.

British mine warfare specialist Paul Guest was visibly shaken when a helicopter flew by during his wheelchair tennis doubles match at Sydney Olympic Park on Monday.

The 54-year-old, who was injured serving during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, was so overcome with emotion he was unable to play and needed to be comforted by Dutch teammate Edwin Vermetten, who realised he was suffering.

read more here

Five British Army OE OIF veterans committed suicide in one week

Five British Army heroes die in a week as MoD launches probe into suicides among 228,000 troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan

Daily Mail
Zoie O'Brien
October 21, 2018

Ministers have now announced a study into the 'caused of death including rates of suicide' from anyone who has died since serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. There have been repeated complaints about the way post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans and serving soldiers is managed.

British airmen shelter from the dust thrown up from a helicopter in Basra, Iraq in 2009

Five British Army soldiers who were active on the front line have died suddenly in just one week.

The tragic deaths of the servicemen come as it was revealed as many as 42 former or serving servicemen and women are believed to have committed suicide this year alone.

Five people died between September 26 and October 1 in tragic circumstances, according to the Sunday Times.

They are believed to have served in the forces in conflicts including Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
read more here

MOD accused of turning blind eye to PTSD and veterans committing suicide

Furious campaigners blast MoD amid fresh claims it is turning a ‘blind eye’ to veteran suicides 
Portsmouth UK
Tom Cotterill
October 16, 2018

The dad-of-six, who overcame suicidal thoughts after his time in the army, said: ‘It’s a betrayal by this government to not keep track of people who lose their lives through the hidden wounds of war. ‘All of our allies do it – Germany does it, America does it, so do Australia and Canada. It’s an embarrassment that our government is failing to take action.

CAMPAIGNERS have accused bureaucrats at Whitehall of continuing to bury their hands in the sand and refusing to heed cries to do more to tackle veteran suicide rates. For the past few months, The News has been calling on the Ministry of Defence to up its game and do more for former troops traumatised by the horrors of war.

It comes after an investigation by this paper revealed no records were kept by the MoD of the number of veterans taking their lives – sparking claims the government was ‘turning a blind eye’ to the issue.But now, months after campaigners demanded changes to bring the UK in line with its allies like America and Canada – who do record veteran suicides – The News has learned the Ministry of Defence still hasn’t taken action.
read more here

There is so much more that can be in your story.

What more should be in your story?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 17, 2018

Every now and then, it gets hard to do more than stare at a blank screen. Flipping through emails, mostly mindless reports feeling more and more empty, it gets hard to find a reason to not walk away from the computer.

Today was one of those days.  I went through emails going back over 10 years, hoping to be encouraged, as usual, but this time, I was more discouraged.

How the hell did I go from being the go-to on PTSD to being buried by the BS that has taken over social media?

It is easy to feel useless. Easy to think that I've really given all I have to give. Nothing new to say, because nothing has changed in the basic design of humans but there are just more needing help.

Maybe that is what I needed to see today. Believing in what you are doing, being able to do it, can become so much a part of your identity, it is in your DNA.

Being reminded of that feeling of being useless, it is easier for me to explain why men and women, put their lives on the line willingly, get wounded or disabled, and it rips their soul to not be able to do it any longer.

It became a part of who they were, not just what they did. They paid dearly for every ounce of courage, every pull of compassion and every hopeful step they walked while believing, it was not just a matter of they could make a difference, but had to try.

To believe that there is nothing more they can give, just shows how blind we have made them to be. We allow some to beat them down as if they are broken beyond repair. We let them feel sorry for themselves instead of helping them stand up. They cannot see the value they still have by being in the unique position to help all the others just like them.

This veteran from the UK lived to tell of how he knew what it was like to become "useless" in his own eyes because he could not see the truth was still within his soul.

The ex-soldier survived the suicide bid and says that it helped him appreciate his life more

An ex-soldier who jumped in front of a train while suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder has apologised to those who witnessed his attempted suicide. Perry Tatler kissed his two young children goodbye for what he believed was for the last time before heading to the train station. Despite throwing himself in front of a train, the 29-year-old survived to encourage suicidal people to seek help. The father of two remains in hospital five months on, having sustained a broken back, shoulder and ribs, and a bleed on the brain.

read more of this story here 

Trying to help others stay alive! Isn't that a lot better than talking about something they already know how to do? They already know how to die...they don't know how to heal!

There is so much more that can be in your story. You just need to know how to keep adding to the ending!

Military writer, 53, hanged herself beside love letter to her husband

Military writer, 53, hanged herself beside love letter to her husband as memory loss and ME began to stop her ability to pen articles
Daily Mail
By TERRI-ANN WILLIAMS FOR MAILONLINE
31 August 2018

Kate Perrett-Clarke's symptoms meant she was overwhelmed by fatigue
Mother of three compared getting around her home to 'running a marathon'
Writer was described as a 'joy and a whirlwind' by family and friends

A talented writer and mother of three hanged herself after she began losing her ability to pen magazine articles due to bouts of illness.

Kate Perrett-Clarke, 53, had forged a successful career in writing academic pieces for military publications but her medical conditions, which included memory loss and the chronic fatigue syndrome ME left her barely able to draw a clock face.

This inability to continue to pursue her passion led her to take her own life.

She was found by her husband Malcolm last March, next to her was a love letter she had previously penned to him before he had travelled to Scotland for six weeks.
read more here

UK Veteran paid ultimate price after being redeployed with PTSD

'HE WANTED TO END THE NIGHTMARES' Soldier who fought alongside Prince Harry in Afghanistan hanged himself after clearing explosives ‘without being qualified’
The Sun
By Rob Pattinson and Aletha Adu
5th July 2018

Hunt was deployed to Helmand Province in 2008 and sent back in 2009 despite showing signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Warrant Officer Nathan Hunt served with Prince Harry, fifth right, in Afghanistan in 2008

A SOLDIER who hanged himself after fighting alongside Prince Harry cleared explosives in Afghanistan without being qualified, an inquest heard.

Warrant Officer Nathan Hunt, 39, protected the prince and was mentioned in dispatches for saving hundreds of comrades.

Today a Lincoln inquest heard the Royal Engineer had not been properly trained for the nerve-racking combat role and suffered years of nightmares back home.

His ex-wife Lainey Hunt, a Warrant Officer with 32 Engineer Regiment, like her husband, told the hearing: "From 2008 to the day he died Nathan suffered.

"He suffered from nightmares and sleeplessness, and I would see him crying.

"I do believe Nathan wanted to end the nightmares and decided to end his life that night."
read more here

UK Veterans support group shut down by Facebook?

Veterans warn suicidal soldiers' lives are being put at risk as Facebook blocks 'cry for help' site for British troops battling combat stress
Daily Mail UK
By MARK NICOL FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
30 June 2018

Facebook deleted Fill Your Boots UK after saying content violated guidelines Page was set up to help soldiers and veterans with Post traumatic stress disorder But social media platform still hosted a jihadi propaganda page free to view

Facebook has shut down a page used by desperate soldiers seeking support for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – leading to fears it is putting lives at risk.

Soldiers suffering from combat induced traumas after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan would post ‘cries for help’ on the page on an almost daily basis according to its founder, ex-paratrooper Alfie Usher. Stock image

The social media giant closed Fill Your Boots UK (FYB UK) after claiming its content, which included discussions with mentally ill soldiers who were considering ending their lives, breached ‘community’ guidelines.

Soldiers suffering from combat induced traumas after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan would post ‘cries for help’ on the page on an almost daily basis according to its founder, ex-paratrooper Alfie Usher.

FYB UK would then issue SOS messages, asking other veterans to rush to their aid.

But last week the page was dramatically shut down without warning after an exchange of messages between Mr Usher and a former soldier who threatened to kill himself in reaction to the deaths of two of his soldiers who were blown up by Taliban bombs in Afghanistan.
read more here