Hypnotherapist Peter Corrigan is offering free help sessions to armed servicemen and women returning from combat zones.
The former Army medic says the treatment he offers can help ex-soldiers come to terms with their feelings on return from the stresses of active duty.
He said too many military personnel bottle up their emotions and keep feelings in check – which can lead to intense personal problems in the coming months.
Mr Corrigan, who lives in Whitstable, said: “The condition of post traumatic stress disorder has been very well identified but there are a lot of different problems faced by those who come back from a war zone.
“One of them can be depression – the person can feel totally unmotivated and listless on their return. This is in turn can lead to problems with alcohol abuse.
“It was first realised what a problem with was following the Falklands War, when there were a large number of suicides among veterans.”
According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists many people feel grief-stricken, depressed, anxious, guilty and angry after a traumatic experience such as combat.
Experts say there are three main types of symptoms produced by such an experience.
Former servicemen and woman may find they re-live a traumatic event, again and again.
This can happen both as a flashback in the day, and as nightmares when asleep.
These can be so realistic it feels as though the person is living through the experience all over again. They see it in the mind, but may also feel the emotions and physical sensations of what happened - fear, sweating, smells, sounds, pain.
Alternatively it can be just too upsetting to re-live the experience over and over again. So the person distracts themselves by losing themselves in a hobby, working very hard, or spending time absorbed in crossword or jigsaw puzzles.
They avoid places and people that remind them of the trauma, and try not to talk about it.
Lastly a victim may deal with the pain by trying to feel nothing at all – by becoming emotionally numb.
They communicate less with other people, who then find it hard to live or work alongside them.
The National Council of Hypnotherapists is offering all UK soldiers one free session with one of its members.
However Mr Corrigan, who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Malaya, Cyprus, Germany and Singapore, said he would be prepared to offer more than just a single course of treatment.
“It is extremely important that the returning military personnel deal with their feelings – something soldiers are actually quite bad at,” he said.
“Many just do not talk about what they have been through and that could be something as traumatic as the loss of a friend.
“Hypnotherapy is a way of unblocking that barrier and can be the start of the healing process.
“It is not the whole answer – but it can be of great benefit.”
POSTED: 20/11/2009 10:00:00
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