Military Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a serious disorder which involves many symptoms such as self harm, anger, violence and drug addiction as well as depression. All of these are common symptoms of Military Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and sadly affects thousands of soldiers every year who have serviced in the armed forces.

What Is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?
“Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity, overwhelming the individual's ability to cope. As an effect of psychological trauma, PTSD is less frequent and more enduring than the more commonly seen acute stress response.

Diagnostic symptoms for PTSD include re-experiencing the original trauma(s) through flashbacks or nightmares, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, and increased arousal – such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, anger, and hyper vigilance. Formal diagnostic criteria require that the symptoms last more than one month and cause significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.”

The number of people who are experiencing and suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as war trauma, is said to hugely increase in the next few years due to the number of soldiers who are fighting in areas such as Helmand and Basra. There are concerns that the Iraq war is producing more cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder than any other conflict in decades, one of the main reasons for this is that the violence has been so widespread and exposure to it so constant over long periods of time. The suicide bombers, roadside mines and the constant threat of attack within the Iraq war poses a unique challenge to the mental health of the soldiers who are serving in it.

The number of troops diagnosed with past traumatic stress disorder has increased by >50%. Research estimates that about 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with PTSD since 2003 and it is thought that many more are probably keeping their illness a secret. This is often because they are embarrassed or they fear having the condition hurt their military career; due to this a large majority of the soldiers suffering from PTSD don't get the treatment that they need.

Currently many ex-serviceman and women being missed by the mainline services and although they may have no physical or visible disability they are suffering. Some of them are quite severely incapacitated. At this present moment in time it takes on average 14 years for a veteran suffering from a mental or emotional problem to receive the necessary help they require.
There is however help for ex-servicemen and women suffering from PTSD. There are now a few charities and organizations that provides a getaway, a type of therapy that allows freedom; a period of time when they can forget about PTSD and live a normal life even for just a few hours. Organizations and charities such as Fishing For Heroes provide guided fly fishing days which provide ex-servicemen and women respite break for them, and their families, but more importantly they aim to give them a set of life skills which will enable them to help themselves into the future.

It seems that the concentration used learning new skills and techniques allows suffers of PTSD to forget about the anxiety and for even just a few hours feel relaxed and normal. Foremost the concentration and anticipation of watching an indicator as the flies drift through a deep pocket of water; eyes fixated on the indicator waiting for the slightest of movement, focuses all the suffers thoughts, a thus allows them to forget momentarily the emotional and physiological thoughts that PTSD suffered experience everyday of their life.

Organisations and charities which provide one on one therapy need support. Just remember when you are all fly fishing, whether it is on a still water or river, spare a thought for all the ex-servicemen and women whom have risked their lives to fight for our country. Think of the joy and feeling you get from fly fishing and then think how you could give that feeling back to someone who has suffered for there country.