# Living with PTSD — Combat Stress

> "Life as we know it: Living with PTSD" is an awareness campaign by Combat Stress, the UK's leading charity for veterans' mental health. The single-page site highlights how everyday things — a walk in the woods, a summer BBQ, an evening in front of the TV — can trigger traumatic memories for veterans and transport them back to a moment in conflict. It documents the stories of five veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder and the specialist treatment and support Combat Stress provides.

## About Combat Stress

For over a century Combat Stress has helped former servicemen and women deal with conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression. The charity provides specialist treatment and support for veterans from every service and conflict, focusing on those with complex mental health issues related to their military service. Treatment is delivered by multidisciplinary clinical teams who build a unique treatment plan for each veteran.

## The campaign

The campaign documents five veterans, aged 33–64, who served in conflicts including the Falklands, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. Each profile pairs photography (donated free of charge by photographer Tom Skipp) with a short video interview, tracing each veteran's story from enlisting, through life on "civvy street" with PTSD, to being treated by Combat Stress.

## Veteran stories

- [Brian](https://living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk/#section-brian): Aged 64, 42 years of military service including Northern Ireland, the Falklands, Belize, the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Angola and Iraq. The smell of a barbeque takes him back to evacuating guardsmen off a burning ship in the Falklands. Diagnosed with complex PTSD and co-morbid depression. [Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/XXF1TQ6tqJQ)
- [Davina](https://living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk/#section-davina): Aged 46, served with the Army Air Corps including in Bosnia, Cyprus and the Middle East. Spider silk glistening in sunlight looks like a wire attached to an antipersonnel mine and takes her back to Bosnia. Still benefits from the charity's Peer Support Service. [Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/UHsQxz4fN_I)
- [Garry](https://living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk/#section-garry): Aged 33, served with the Royal Artillery and completed two tours of Afghanistan. Hypervigilant and sees threats everywhere; simple tasks like the school run or shopping can be impossible. Combat Stress helped him rekindle his passion for art and pursue work as a tattoo artist. [Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/39eohlzsJDc)
- [Rebecca](https://living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk/#section-rebecca): Joined the Army Reserves at 30 and served 18 years, including two tours as a ward master at Camp Bastion Hospital, Afghanistan. Clinical supermarket lights, sirens and some TV shows take her back to the field hospital. Diagnosed with complex PTSD and completed the charity's intensive treatment programme. [Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/qtGRSfyXszw)
- [Craig](https://living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk/#section-craig): Aged 48, joined the Army at 16 and served 23 years across Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. The smell of an oil refinery on the way to work can stir up emotions of being back in Iraq. Pottery making has helped him turn his life around following his PTSD diagnosis. [Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/1ryuisnAzwQ)

## Get help and support

- 24-hour Helpline: 0800 138 1619
- Text: 07537 173683 (standard charges may apply)
- Email: [helpline@combatstress.org.uk](mailto:helpline@combatstress.org.uk)
- The Helpline is for veterans and for family members or carers worried about the mental health of a loved one.

## Links

- [Combat Stress main website](https://www.combatstress.org.uk)
- [Donate](https://donate.combatstress.org.uk/b?cid=10&utm_source=web&utm_medium=microsite&utm_campaign=livingwithptsd&utm_content=general)
- [Photographer Tom Skipp](https://www.tomskipp.com/about)
- [Terms of Use](https://combatstress.org.uk/terms-and-conditions)
- [Privacy Policy (PDF)](https://living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk/Branded_Privacy_Policy_October_2021.pdf)

## Notes

This site is a single-page awareness microsite at https://living-with-ptsd.combatstress.org.uk/. It contains sensitive content relating to military trauma, PTSD and references to suicidal thoughts.