Falklands War anniversary

Doug Padgett is a Falklands veteran who suffered the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after his experiences in the war.

In his words he began 'self-medicating' with alcohol, in a vain attempt to deal with his problems.

At the time he had no idea of what was happening to him:

"I've subsequently realised that PTSD is an accumulative disorder, but my major impact event, the one that stood out, was that I was on the tank deck of the Sir Galahad, when it got bombed in the Falklands – even now I can still see the pictures of it."

Troops on their way to the Falklands.

Eventually the end of his marriage brought things to a dramatic head:

"It took some time before I was subsequently diagnosed with the problem, and it was subsequent to a suicide attempt as a result of depression.

"My daughter’s mother didn't want to stay around someone who was drinking heavily and sometimes not being a very nice person, so contact with my daughter was stopped.

"That made me very depressed and as a consequence I got diagnosed with PTSD."

A life tranformed

His life has been transformed by a new treatment for PTSD, offered by a self help group called Help Me Overcome.

It stresses the need for people to balance all aspects of their life – physical, emotional, mental, spiritual and energy.

This relies on something called 'Emotional Freedom Technique', which they claim helps people to 'collapse the negative beliefs limiting (their) personal development and wellbeing.'

Doug Padgett is convinced it has worked for him:

"I'm beginning to recognise who I used to be, and allowing that person the freedom to express myself. I'm letting myself be who I want to be, not worrying about what anyone else thinks, and that's nice."

"I can sleep at night, I don't have nightmares, I don't have lost time during the day, I don't have waking nightmares, I can interact with people, I'm beginning to build a social life, I've got a job, and I have a smile on my face."