Military veteran puts new uni research to the test
A pioneering university research project is aiming to treat military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Here, one former member of the Armed Forces tells us why he’s championing the potential of this new technology
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the name given to a set of symptoms that some people develop after experiencing major traumatic events.
The traumatic event can be a single incident or take place over many months or years.
Around 4% of British military veterans are living with PTSD. Psychological therapy is the treatment of choice for PTSD but, unfortunately, resistance to this treatment is common.
There is an urgent need to identify effective treatments for military veterans.
One such treatment, Modular Motion-assisted Memory Desensitisation and Reconsolidation or 3MDR, is part of a new research project based at the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH) at Cardiff University.
It’s based on the principles of existing treatments which focus on trauma but 3MDR also involves the patient walking on a treadmill while interacting with a series of images which they’ve chosen, displayed on a large screen, and listening to chosen music at the start and finish of each therapy session.
Military veteran John Skipper has become a passionate public spokesman and research champion of the PTSD research taking place at Cardiff University after completing the 3MDR trial.
John said: “I served in the army for 35 years, 35 days and 12 hours.
“In 1982 I was involved in the Falklands conflict, then over five years of service in Northern Ireland.
“I can honestly say that if I had the chance to live my life again I would still join the army.
“But one very dark moment in my life, during the conflict in Bosnia, was imprinted in my mind. It was one particular week in July of 1995 – the genocide at Srebrenica.
“Something inside me tore after that week. I sensed it – I was different somehow.”
Up to one third of people who have experienced a traumatic event develop some PTSD symptoms.
Studies estimate that around 7% of people will suffer from PTSD at some point in their lives.
PTSD sufferers often experience repeated and distressing memories of a traumatic event.
John remembers when his experience of Bosnia began to disrupt his dreams exactly 10 years later.
“It was 2005, one night I had a dream of Bosnia. It was so real I could smell it and hear it.
“This same dream was to recur time and time again, without warning, during sleepless, fearful nights over the next few years.
“At my final discharge medical in 2006 mental health didn’t get a single mention – PTSD was not something I had ever heard of. Nor had my medical officer, apparently.”
Some people with PTSD will think about the triggering traumatic event constantly which stops them coming to terms with it.
They may ask themselves why the event happened to them or how it could have been prevented or may experience guilt and shame.
John continued: “I’m convinced that I never really accepted or recognised my symptoms.
“My partner wondered why I was so easy to anger, didn’t sleep very much and sometimes shouted in my sleep.
“I tried to keep it under wraps. My default to a stigma never to admit mental health frailties.”
It is common for people with PTSD to feel anxious or irritable, and find it difficult to concentrate and sleep.
They may also experience increased jumpiness and vigilance.
While John was working for an NHS Inspectorate Wales he was tasked with writing a report on “Healthcare of the Armed Forces Community in Wales”. He spent hours on the phone collecting veterans’ stories – the vast majority concerning mental health illnesses.
“I heard how many veterans had received little support from GPs who had little knowledge of trauma-related illness – even mental health illness in general.
“Very few had been signposted to safe therapy. Those who had been diagnosed had virtually given up on treatment because of long waiting lists.”
During this time John was diagnosed with cancer.
“I remember now that that diagnosis was completely secondary and a sideshow to what was going on in my mind.
“I had the good fortune to meet Professor Jon Bisson as part of the Armed Forces Review process, who referred me to a local psychiatrist for diagnosis.
“I will never forget the diagnosis in March 2012, describing ‘significant symptoms of PTSD, low grade depressive symptoms, selfdoubt’ and so on.
“I was referred to a therapist within a couple of weeks. I know now how lucky I was. My therapist saved my life. I was to have 38 sessions over a period of almost two years.
“In April 2012 I really knew what it was to be mentally ill – my day-to-day functionality was impaired.
“For me, the ‘reliving element’ within the CBT process was the cure. I had shone a torch in some very dark corners and largely expelled the demons.
“It left me totally drained. CBT was about getting me carefully to that point, and leading me back to a normal life after it.
“Whatever had torn inside me in 1995, leaving a complex dark legacy, had not disappeared. But I learnt to live with it and understand it.” John was in a position where timely help and understanding was quickly at hand. For many, it is not.
“Reaching the traumatic event is a journey, and 3MDR replicates that.
“It’s powerful and I think it will be very effective.
“I want 3MDR to become one of the key weapons in the arsenal to address PTSD.
“I hope in the future it will be made available to those who need it within a timeframe that’s right. And, eventually, not just for veterans, but across the whole of society.
“It’s a potential lifesaver.”
The 3MDR study, taking place at Cardiff University, has a specially designed laboratory which will see 42 veterans, who haven’t benefitted from trauma focused psychological treatment before, take part in the study.
Dr Neil Kitchiner, director and clinical consultant lead of Veterans NHS Wales, said: “Our study will determine if 3MDR can help British military veterans with PTSD who have not responded to the current first-choice treatment for PTSD.
“We’re constantly working to understand more about PTSD so we can apply cuttingedge research to practice.
“We’re hopeful for 3MDR to have a positive impact on the military veterans who participate and that their PTSD symptoms are significantly reduced.
“If this is the case then we hope to test 3MDR against frontline trauma-focused psychological therapies such as EMDR, to see whether this approach is as effective or potentially even better. We’re very excited and hopeful for the future of 3MDR at Cardiff University.”
■ To find out more about the 3MDR study contact NCMH on 02920 688401 or email info@ncmh.info