Any experience of delayed PTSD

I do not have personal experience, but there are some good CBT strategies that are used in this problem I believe.

Have you talked to any of the charities working with servicemen with metal problems? Combat Stress, is probably the best one to as they have a Helpline. www.combatstress.org.uk/help-you They will have experienced advisors who can help you and your partner.

I saw a little of this on television recently, I believe if you get in touch with Help for Heroes they can help you, I do hope so. We all expect so much from our brave young men fighting for our country and its sad that they like your dh do not have the support they so need.? I have not heard of Combat Stress that Monica mentioned, but that sounds a good start. Good luck to you both in getting the help you deserve.

The combat stress helpline is 0800 138 1619. There is also the SSAFA charity, ssafa.org.uk which is there to help. Good luck.

DH has PTSD from the Gulf War. He didn't seek help and thinks he's dealt with it but his nightmares say otherwise.

Contact the numbers and charities that others above have suggested. Even if he won't seek help they will be able to advise and support you.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to offer advice and contact numbers. My husband recently attended a reunion with RN medics who had served alongside him in the Falklands war. This is the first time he'd met up with them since the war and discovered several had suffered mental health issues and/or commited suicide. My husband has been suffering depression (or deep sadness as he calls it) for several years which is totally unlike his usual happy and carefree character. He is getting medical treatment now but I wondered if there might be any connection with those traumatic days. Like many men he doesn't want to talk about it and it was many years before I met him.

I'm sure those kind of experiences leave a lasting impact. How could they not?

The Falklands war left many suffering with mental health issues. It's so sad that so many people (men particularly) are unable to name their feelings of 'sadness/tiredness/crossness etc' as depression. As MissA says, those traumatic experiences do leave a lasting impact. I do hope your husband gets some effective help with his sadness.

They are the forgotten war casualties. Everyone recognises the sacrifices made by those who have lost limbs but no one thinks about those with invisible injuries.

vampire, we've come a long way from WW1 when "cowards", ie men with PTSD were shot at dawn. I found the Pat Barker trilogy about WW1 a very good read. She addresses the issue of battle fatigue/ptsd so sensitively whilst depicting psychiatric interventions which were far from sensitive. Prince Harry involved men and women who'd been involved in various recent wars and developed drug/alcohol problems in the Invicticus choir. He continues to raise the profile of the need to support our military.

Sometimes trauma can be buried for years, until something happens to bring it to the forefront of the mind. It have a lasting impact as missA has said.
Men in particular have difficulty in speaking about personsl problems because of perceived shame or embarrassment.
Things have improved now, it is talked about more in the media etc. a good thing of course but while mental health is still seen and funded as a second class service there is some way to go.

What has my comment got to do with WW1. I simply made a point that people don't realise that the apparently fit men are injured too just not in a physical way.

I meant no offence vampire queen. I link ptsd with WW1 because battle fatigue/ptsd weren't recognised then and men were shot for being cowards. We have moved on in that the emotional/psychological impact of wars is at least acknowledged though the men suffering don't always / often get the support they should.

Don't worry Iam64. This is the problem when we only see text with no intonation or body language. Sorry I misunderstood your meaning.

That's ok. I've just read on line about a former soldier who hung himself after experiencing ptsd. The article included a photograph of him with his troupe in Afghanistan, Prince Harry was amongst them. The man's father was a former soldier and described his son's death as battle casualty, just as it would have been if he'd died in Afghanistan during a battle. The impact of trauma is something we're only just beginning to understand imo.