Plymouth and Southwest Veterans PTSD Support Group.

"Having an understanding ear can be important for someone

suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)". These are

the words of just one sufferer from the Plymouth area.

Paul (name changed for anonimity), a serving member of the 1st

Battalion The Rifles and PTSD patient said he uses a three-pronged

approach to help deal with his illness - formal therapy with a

psychologist, peer-led group therapy and informal therapy through the

Plymouth & Southwest Veterans PTSD Support Group.

"We have our trusted peers that we can open up and tell our

problems to where we can talk back and forth and interact with one

another," Paul continued. "We all have our good days and we

all have our bad days and they're never in tune with each other. When

we're having a high day, we're looking for that low guy we can help

out, because later on down the road somewhere, you're going to be the

low guy and they're going to be the high guy and they help bring you

back up."

Paul added, "Having the Plymouth & Southwest Veterans PTSD

Support Group and its associated Facebook page, both created by

ex-Servicemen and women from Devon, is a great resource because it

allows military PTSD suffers and Veterans to communicate with each

other on their own terms".

"It's grassroots is to enable Veterans and serving personnel

to get together with other sufferers," Paul said. "It

allows guys like me to relate with whats happening to us, we can

speak in our own language and with our own acronyms, that only

Military Personnel understand"

A spokesperson for the Plymouth & Southwest Veterans PTSD

Support Group, Pip Morgan who himself served over 20 years in the

Royal Air Force and has suffered from PTSD since 2008, explained he

has received great feedback from both serving and ex-Serving

personnel who have been helped by having a forum to talk openly. Pip

trained to become a Psychologist after receiving help and support

from Combat Stress, and in 2009 he specialised in Posttraumatic

Stress Disorder issues, in 2010 he decided to launch the Veterans

Support Group in his home town. His on story is soon to be published

in his autobiography 'Secrets and Lies:- The Enemy Within', when

asked about the book he shys away and only states that he was

inspired to write it by a close female friend, for who's support he

can never be thankful enough.

He said "more awareness about PTSD

is needed among the rank-and-file so more Veterans and serving

personnel will be willing to open up about the struggles they're

dealing with" he added, "Facing your fear head on and saying

'hey look at me' that in itself is a healing mechanism, and we've got

hundreds of people who will attest to the same thing."

The Plymouth & Southwest Veterans PTSD Support Group has even

helped a Serving Royal Marine who was contemplating suicide, because

he couldn't understand why he was feeling so depressed all the time

after returning from Active Duty in Afghanistan. Plymouth Veterans

encourages people to contact each other via Facebook and other Social

Network Sites as they believe the distraction of receiving a host of

supportive messages distracts the sufferer long enough for

professional help to work its magic.

Paul, who has served many tours of duty

around the world, including one where he served in the morgue at Camp

Bastion in Afghanistan, admits his job scarred him for life, though

he has no regrets about pursuing a career in the armed forces. He

believes that such Groups such as Plymouth & Southwest Veterans

should be formed in every city. He added, "I love the Army and

British Armed Forces in general and I love everything it stands for,"

Paul continued to add, "it's disheartening for myself to know

that I couldn't go back into that type of situation again just for

the pure risk of digressing back to my old, dark days where I was

struggling to keep my marriage together and control my anger and my

crying."

Plymouth & Southwest Veterans PTSD Support is open to

veterans, serving personnel and their families and are happy to help

anyone who believes they may suffer from Posttraumatic Stress. They

have a wide network of support from other national groups such as

Combat Stress, Help 4 Heroes, VIPA, SSAFFA, RBLI and Veterans UK but

to name a few......