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| PTSD Testimonials Please take some time to view the testimonials we have received from some of the PTSD casualties who completed the training during the initial pilot programme. Insert 10 minute PTSD video here
The following veterans have kindly shared their stories with us about their experience of the training.
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Dr W R Short CB CSt J MBChB FRCP(Glas) Dr Robin Short retired from the Royal Army Medical Corps in the rank of Major General having served as the Surgeon General British Army and former Director General, British Army Medical Services. I recently attended my second training programme conducted by David Walters to help ex- servicemen suffering from complex, late onset PTSD. In the main they were long term casualties, known to me, who had experienced co-existing alcoholism, failed relationships and in some repeated suicide attempts. By the end of the two day course they had shown marked improvement in their symptoms and had confidence in the self treatment techniques that they had learned, to control their symptoms. I will continue to follow up the maintenance and the longer term improvements that they experience. The protocol developed by David Walters and his application of this appears remarkably effective in dealing with late onset PTSD. He has credibility of application and gains the confidence of his subjects. The relief gained from nightmares, flashbacks and personal "demons" is impressive from personal observation. His methods bring demonstrable relief to those troubled. I am convinced by these early results that this needs to be further tested and I have other volunteers who have heard by word of mouth and who wish to be given the opportunity to take part in this programme Les Standish, Cpl 2 Para (Retd) I served in the Falklands as a corporal in 2 Para and was diagnosed with PTSD in 1993. Two weeks ago I had a major relapse. I was suicidal and all my memories came flooding back. I couldn't cope with them. Having done the course my head feels empty. All thoughts and memories I had are completely shredded and I'm sleeping straight through the night which is something I have not done for 25 years. Go in to this training with an open mind. Accept everything that you're being asked to do because it really does work. Doug Padgett, Cpl RAMC (retd) I served as a Combat Medical Technician with 55 Field Surgical Team attached to 2 Field Hospital serving in the Falklands. I was at Port Stanley and moved to Fitzroy on Sir Galahad where we were bombed. I was on the tank deck awaiting disembarkation when the air strike happened and the bomb went of behind me and to my left. I was sitting on the front bumper of a Landover which shielded me from most of the blast. I just received a flash burn on my left hand. At first I was confused and disoriented and angry that the ship had turned off its lights (as I thought at the time). Actually the bomb had exploded and filled the tank deck with smoke. As reality crept in I understood that we had been hit. It was then I realised that I had to act and do my job as a medic. As the smoke started to clear I could see people running round, confused, hurt, screaming and shouting. I gathered to me what medics were available and proceeded to work on the wounded. It was obvious that the fire was spreading and in the centre of the tank deck was a pile of munitions waiting to be disembarked. Basically a giant bomb waiting to explode! The exits to the rear were out of action so we had to move forward with our casualties. Whilst finding access to the boat deck along the bulkhead there was a guy very badly injured. He was disembowelled; one leg was off above the knee, the other missing below the knee. He was waving his arms and asking for help. I knew there was nothing I could do for him so I had to make a decision and I left him. I just walked past him with my casualty. I've felt guilt and regret for 25 years that I didn't even say anything to him. I came to the bottom of a stairwell and I saw two young Welsh guardsmen. They obviously didn't think they were going to make it out. They shook each others hands, pointed their rifles to each others head and pulled their triggers. There was nothing I could have done to stop them. It was their decision. When I thought back about this incident I just felt so disgusted with myself that I'd felt no sympathy, remorse or other emotion and they killed each other in front of my eyes. Eventually we gained access to the boat decks and continued performing our job. We were Casevaced ashore and re-kitted. I was then sent back to Fitzroy to work with the surgical team where I performed triage duties. I spent the rest of the Falklands war working with that unit. After the war ended we flew to RAF Lynham. My wife met me and we were driven back to our unit. It took a while for the changes to manifest themselves. The first was that I increased my alcohol intake and was on the slippery steps to self medication. It was a number of years before people started to tell that I needed to be checked out because I was not the same person I used to be. I was becoming disruptive and my marriage suffered and ended in divorce. I left the army in 1989. Since then I have had 8 successive short term relationships which all ended in breakdown. I have had one long term relationship since the Falklands but we didn't live together, it was only part time. That's why I think it lasted so long. I didn't know my behaviours were so destructive because they were sub-conscious. I wasn't even aware at what I was doing. I became self employed so I could work when I wanted to. I learned how to forget anniversaries mine, the war and my family. I then entered into another relationship which lasted 2 years and my partner became pregnant. After my daughter was born she didn't want her brought up in the destructive environment I was creating so she left. That was when I had my first suicide attempt. I realised something was wrong and in 2000 I went to seek professional help. That's when I was diagnosed with PTSD. Since then I've had one final relationship which lasted 12 months but she was dysfunctional and we we're feeding each others problems. I went through a huge period of learning and the first psychiatrist I saw recommended that I contact Combat Stress. I was disgusted when I went there because I was given no treatment - just a week's respite care and then I was kicked out. Then I had to find something for my own wellbeing and it took a long time. It took nearly 4 years before the NHS recognised me as someone who needed help and referred me to a psychologist. After this I was assessed and referred to a psychiatric support team. I got some good work done. But because I was having problems with my daughter's mother and all the legal battle over custody I had to do a lot of work on myself. I qualified as a counsellor, parenting coach, anger management consultant, life coach, massage therapist and facilitator for the expert patient programme. I was slowly progressing with my own psychological intervention to deal with my own symptoms. I was taking sleeping tablets every night but often they wouldn't work and I'd have the nightmares. I was put in contact with Ty Gwnn at which a former 2 I/C of a unit I served in was running. By this time I'd had other suicide attempts. Then other avenues were opened up to me. I got a call from Robin Short to attend a training session run by David Walters and then the lights came popping on all over the place. The time I did learning "The Walters method™" not only allowed me to get over my PTSD I also allowed me to use the other techniques I had learned to finally find freedom. I'm now sleeping through the night without any nightmares. I only take sleeping pills after a particularly hard day at work and I can actually remember having normal dreams. Many PTSD casualties have been let down so many times they're afraid to go out of their comfort zone. They live in little cliques supporting each other, drinking, often taking drugs and letting out their aggression and misdirected anger. All I can say is give yourself permission to try it out. Give it a go. The training has certainly worked for me. I've had about dozen suppressed traumatic memories re-emerge since I did the training and I've dealt with them all using the techniques I've leaned. Even when I retold my PTSD story this time it wasn't that tough - I've had a major break through that I've never experienced before. Andy Haslam QGM, WO2 (Retd) I am a former IEDD [Bomb Disposal] Warrant Officer and I was diagnosed with PTSD in 1999 following a series of traumas during the nineties. I was discharged from the British Army in 2001. My PTSD was initially diagnosed and treated at Haslar [military hospital] then I had no assistance until now. Over the last 10 years I have continued to experience the devastating impact of PTSD. This has resulted in 3 failed relationships and a constant living hell from nightmares, flashbacks and emotional shutdown. The procedures taught me by David Walters have given me a reason to live again. His techniques and easy going way of addressing issues has turned it around for me in just 2 telephone sessions. I am now living and working in Dubai and have felt so alone and isolated for so long. This is no longer the case. Phil King, WO2 (Retd) I enlisted into the army aged 15 into the junior parachute coy. Passed my selection for para training and was posted to 1 para when the troubles started in 69. I was 17 and 5 months. I did a 4 month tour then went back in 70 until 72 I was present for the Abercorn bomb in Belfast where 32 were killed. I was on the streets during Internment for 8 days without going back to camp. I was at Bloody Sunday. Nothing bothered me. I also went back on op motorman and stayed another 4 months. I also served with the UN in Cyprus and in Berlin for 2 years. When I was discharged from the regular army I had suffered anxiety symptoms. The cause was worry about leaving the army. When I left the regs I enlisted into the parachute regiment TA and served for 14 years. I suffered intermittently from anxiety/depression but finally left in 1990. I have had acupuncture, reflexology and been given plenty of tablets to take from my GP. But I attended a PTSD course run by David Walters. Since this training I remain positive and have been given ways of dealing with my symptoms. I will continue with all the help and support I was given. Howard, RAF Armourer I joined the RAF in 1980 and in 1982, whilst working on bomb disposal, I was involved in an accident on a bombing range in Scotland. I was a member of a four man team, two of which were killed. One outright and the other later in hospital. I did manage to help save the life of one of my colleagues but continued to feel guilty that I couldn't have saved the one that later died too. I was only 19 years old and the medics said I would get over it. I later went on to serve in the Gulf War in 1991. Because of time served I was discharged in 1992 but my ill health continued to dog me, flashbacks, nightmares and panic attacks. I had a break down in 2000 and several spells in hospital with stomach pains plus I was drinking heavily. In 2001 I went to the Gulf War Veterans Assessment unit in St.Thomas's in London where I was diagnosed with PTSD. I have had EMDR with a psychologist and spent time with Combat Stress in Shropshire, in 2006 - none of which had any lasting effect. I was admitted to hospital four times in twelve weeks with pancreatitis each time getting slowly worse. I went into rehab in December and have been dry ever since. I was lucky enough to gain a place on a course with David Walters earlier this year and since then I have had no return of any of my symptoms and feel so much more confident. I am now looking forward to the future with my wife and family. Steve "Taffy" Horvath Royal Army Medical Corps '78 - '91, ret'd as Sgt Hi fellow members. It's "Goldwingtaffy" here or as I am really known Steve "Taffy" Horvath. I kind of dropped off the planet (And this website) sometime last August as a result of yet another major meltdown with my own Complex PTSD. Within the past month or so I've sort of resurfaced and am her to stay (I hope!). I just wanted to add a bit of input into the original thread and the follow on subject by Ironrod on his TFT protocols and subsequent 2 day courses that he runs. I am pleased to hear that there are a few "New" types of "Treatments" coming into our knowledge and domains that will hopefully help a few of my fellow PTSD victims. Please forgive me if I babble on a bit in this message, but I just want to air my own success story on my 25yr journey of trying to deal with and lose my "Friends" in my head that I have grown up with from a young soldier of 21 to a mad Welshman of 45yrs old now. Having been accompanied by my so called "Friends" (The Complex PTSD monsters as I sometimes call them) in my head for some 25yrs, I am pleased to hear from so many of you that there are a number of new and hopefully successful means of helping us deal with/handle our own PTSD issues. It is completely understandable that some of us would be very wary of any new techniques/treatments, (Call them what you may) that appear to be untested and unverified from someone new on the scene. However my story is as follows. I spent 13 & half yrs in the Royal Army Medical Corps from '78 - '91, ret'd as Sgt. Dec 2005 I was diagnosed by an ex forces consultant psychiatrist as having severe chronic complex PTSD. I would not believe it so ended up being sectioned again and eventually saw yet another very highly qualified ex services cons psych who yet again confirmed the original diagnosis. Both consultants explained (When I was compus mentus enough to understand them) that I had been a complex ptsd victim since 1982, and had effectively grown from a young man to old git that I am now with my so called "Friends" that I spent all of my adult life with in my head. Since '82 I have been down the "Normal" route of failed treatments, therapies, therapists, NHS cpn's & so called specialists, (Who subsequently proved not to have a damned clue about military associated PTSD), medications, suicide attempts and the usual PTSD sh**te that we all have to deal with. My symptoms included, intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, hyper vigilance, paranoia, major anger, major fears, just to name a few. In Feb'07 I was contacted by Dr Robin Short (Ret'd Maj Gen RAMC) who asked me to attend one of David Walters' (Ironrod) 2 day intervention courses based on the TFT protocol. Reluctantly I agreed and drove from London to Stoke for the course. Being totally sceptical and not believing it would help me I thought I would end up wasting my time and fuel costs, with the prospect of ending up back in some psych ward within a very short time. I arrived on the Tues afternoon, started working with David that evening, continued until the Thurs lunchtime, and am now here to add my voice to his campaign to help other PTSD victims. Please do not ask me to explain how and why the program works, I don't know and don't want to know. All I know is that IT HAS. On the Wed afternoon I was doing some relaxation techniques when I closed my eyes for the first time in 25yrs without my monsters and visions being there. Wed night I had the first nights sleep over 3hrs in 25yrs with NO NIGHTMARES, WAKING UP AND ENDING UP PATROLLING THE GROUNDS AND SEARCHING FOR THE ENEMY & ANYTHING ELSE i USED TO DO IN MY SLEEP. Since Dec '82 I regularly see the heads of dead people on the bodies of ordinary people in the street. After the Wed on the course I haven't seen any. Like I said, I don't know how this program works, nor do I care how it works. All I can say at this point is that I am SYMPTOM FREE to date. One of the statements I made to the others on the course on the Thurs morn was what do "I" want to do today?? For so many years my life has been ruled and driven by the "Friends" in my head. Then all of a sudden I wake up on the Thurs morning without them. I am one of the worlds biggest sceptics, but now I am enjoying my life and working very well with my wife and kids to getting back to being a "Normal" married man and move back in with them in the very near future. What else can I say apart from, there is someway of getting to the end of the fight, we just have to find our own way of getting there. THANKS TO IRONROD AND ROBIN SHORT FOR GETTING ME THERE IN THE END. Sean Tierney, Coldstream Guards (retd) My name is Sean Tierney and I am an ex-Regular soldier/NCO and served many years ago in places such as Aden, Northern Ireland, Oman etc. Since that time I have worked for several PMC's (Private Military Companies in the fields of Personal Security ('Bullet Catching') and Protection and the training of indigenous local troops and security personnel in places such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Ras-Al-Khaimah, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Uganda. In a purely civilian capacity I have worked on numerous large, onshore and offshore construction/Petro-Chemical projects in such places as Bahrain, Indonesia, Iran, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Turkey and the UAE as an Engineering Inspector. I have also been an Arctic and Mountain Warfare/Survival Instructor and Mountain Rescue Team Member in working for the Outward Bound organisation. During the course of this active life, I have taken part in and been witness to many events that are traumatic to some degree but through my training and attitude towards these events, they didn't appear so at the time to have caused me anything more than a passing thought or two. I then genuinely believed that those who were on the receiving end of whatever happened to them at my hand and the hands of comrades was deserved and I had no reason to doubt it. I have never really given much thought to such events as I believed that the world was a better and safer place without these persons being on it but have over many years had weekly, nightly flashbacks which, after each episode became just that little bit more intense. In the sort of environment in which I operated - and was happy to continue doing so - it is just not done to admit to mental 'irregularities' due to the machismo culture within which you operate, so to avoid these 'flashbacks' becoming known then I used to deliberately volunteer for night duty when these flashbacks were due so as to stay awake and therefore defeat the occurrence. If that wasn't possible then I used to go for lengthy runs - 20 to 30 miles or so or have an exhausting solo physical training session - and in so doing not only avoid the expected occurrence but simultaneously gain the reputation of extreme commitment. This got me the sobriquet of being somewhat over keen to be the best at what I did as physical prowess is essential to what we were employed to do but it also made me incredibly fit to the point where successful competitive sport came comparatively easily to me. I was in fact semi-seriously called 'the ultimate warrior'! In recent years however, with my physical health declining due in the main to spinal injuries sustained as a regular soldier, I have been registered as severely disabled. Unable now to work off my frustrations and inner anger/angst I started to suffer mental health problems and with no worthwhile Psychiatric care available to an 'old warhorse' like me I had the good fortune to be introduced to a Consultant Psychiatrist called Dr. Dafydd Alun Jones - who, within seconds of being introduced to me had got to the heart of my mental health problems - the first so called 'expert' to do so - and began consultations which unlocked so much of my driving force/inner angst. My mental health was diagnosed as Complex PTSD and I was being counselled /treated for that condition. Sadly the private hospital for traumatised ex-servicemen and women which he then ran was closed about two years ago and he has virtually retired but because of his knowledge and professional skill, I owe him a debt that can never be fully repaid. Those of us being counselled /treated by him were therefore left with no protective Psychiatric cover and as such were forced to create ad hoc self-help groups so as to have somewhere to turn to confront our problems with empathetic and non-judgemental people in similar situations. This voluntary involvement is virtually all that is available to us until quite recently when something quite extraordinary took place. Quite out of the blue, I was contacted by Major-General (Ret'd) Dr. Robin Short who was a Director of the private Psychiatric hospital that had closed, and asked if I would become a 'guinea-pig' for a new mental health curative technique that he was involved in, run by David Walters. With the venue for this consultation less than 20 minutes drive away, I jumped at the chance for as it was endorsed/recommended by General Short, I knew him personally and his previous military service both as Surgeon General of the British Army as well as Head of Army Medical Services worldwide, I knew that he wouldn't support some sort of 'quack' remedy and with nowhere else to turn then it was a Heaven sent opportunity to hopefully get some curative treatment rather than continue to rely solely on the prescribed medication regime which was my daily lot. In explaining the technique to me I was quite prepared to allow myself to be totally honest and frank about the many demons that were now beginning to control my daily life which was becoming ever more reclusive and was then introduced to David. A short mutual introduction ensued then he carefully led me into the Trauma Release Technique...I lost any sense of time and David gradually unlocked several traumatic incidents from my past which my mind had subconsciously concealed but which were in fact instrumental in my then parlous mental condition. With amazing ease he painlessly teased these events from me and began the 'collapsing' process and at the end of what turned out to have been a marathon straight five hours (during which Robin Short had quietly listened in the background) I re-entered 'real time' and although mentally drained felt as if I was at the beginning of a new, more focused and less stressed future which had seemed unreachable earlier that day. Once arriving home, the importance of what had just happened began to hit home and all the blank spaces which were the negative conversations, events, people, places, thoughts etc. which up till then had been increasingly controlling my behaviour were closing up - just like the 'defragging' of a computer - and the resultant greater positivity in not having to drag around these brooding and negative thoughts has given me back a lot of the physical as well as the mental energy which was my modus operandi for so many years before my permanent disablement. I will never be able to do without my permanently attached elbow crutch as mechanical damage is mechanical damage but one of the more positive aspects of this as yet incomplete treatment is that I have persuaded my GP to considerably reduce my pain relief and other medication. I will of course never be totally medication independent but I will at least be able to survive in comparative comfort with considerably less medication than originally prescribed. The technique used in releasing all of this mental negativity is so effective that in practising it religiously before getting out of bed as well as before going to sleep daily means that in 'commanding' any negative influences to which I have been exposed during the course of that day to disappear then not only do I not have any further recollection of those conversations, events, people, places, thoughts etc. but it means that apart from the negative influences in the past that have yet to be 'collapsed', I have so much more mental as well as physical energy to help those whom I voluntarily counsel who have not yet had the benefit of the procedure/technique or who perhaps are not yet willing to submit to telling of their inner 'demons'. I still find it hard to believe that such a painless, chemical free procedure can be so effective in improving my mental health and the 'ripple' effect that it has as an adjunct and as it is in my nature to be sceptical of claims and hype that tend to go hand in hand with such procedures then for once it is a genuine pleasure to be wrong. I have yet to finish the initial course with David but to date I do not have the slightest hesitation in TOTALLY endorsing the procedure as expounded by David Walters and it is my sincere hope that this unbelievably simple technique becomes properly funded and a National network of counselling centres put in place - not just for our overworked and under supported military personal but also for civilians who are unprepared/ill equipped to deal with traumatic event such as the Emergency Services, Trauma medical, surgical and nursing staff, the Coastguard and R.N.L.I. Personnel and the like. |
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