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going to be pretty miserable. So I’ll go to people’s houses, and I’ll get GPs and
ambulances out because I’m not happy with how they’re looking.’
For the vast majority of her clients the problem is alcohol rather than drugs, she
says. ‘It was such a massive part of their culture when they were in the military that
it tends to be their crutch when something goes wrong. We do see people with
drug issues, but it’s quite rare.’
She also provides support for family members on house visits, along with
referring them to services like Al-Anon. Signposting her veteran clients – to housing,
education, training, health and other services – is also a ‘massive part’ of the role,
particularly as it’s not uncommon for some veterans to end up homeless. ‘I work
with a charity called Veterans Outreach Support, which has a drop-in service based
in a maritime hotel – there’s about 20-plus services under one roof, so veterans can
turn up on the day and be seen by mental health teams, the Royal British Legion,
[armed forces charity] SSAFA and loads of different services. So I have access to all of
those at my fingertips really.’
Given the trauma that many veterans will have been through and the difficulties in
adjusting to civilian life, could the armed forces themselves be doing more to provide
support? ‘I do think they could,’ she says. ‘I think it might be getting better, but I do
think in the transition period from when they leave the forces they could perhaps
explain a bit more about where to seek help for alcohol problems and things like that,
and provide information about what’s in their area in terms of support. When they
come out it’s so different from being looked after and having that structure.’
Someone who can attest to that is her client Michael, whose Royal Navy career
lasted more than 21 years. After leaving he worked full-time as an engineer on army
camps, but it was when the work stopped that his drinking got out of control. ‘It
just got progressively worse and worse, until it snowballed into about a litre of
vodka a day,’ he tells DDN. ‘A ridiculous amount.’
Despite the extent of his drinking he found it hard to even acknowledge that he
had a problem until his first contact with Combat Stress. ‘What made me sit up
and take notice was the first time I ever met Donna,’ he says. ‘That was in January
2016, when I was in the QA hospital for the second time with a broken shoulder.
She just turned up at my bed one day and the light bulb went on over my head. Up
until then it hadn’t really dawned on me because I couldn’t see the wood for the
trees. I was too close to the problem.’
Although he’s making good progress he’s aware that it can be a long road. ‘I’ve
had a couple of blips,’ he says. ‘I went without a drink for about 16 months and I
thought I had it under control, but I didn’t. It’s like any addiction, it comes up and
kicks you in the backside, but generally I’m feeling quite optimistic.’
His only other experience of treatment, at a drug and alcohol drop-in centre,
made him realise how much he values the veteran-specific service at Combat Stress.
‘The atmosphere and surroundings were not what I’d call conducive to help,’ he says.
‘A lot of people were only there because they had to be as part of their ASBOs or
whatever, and were talking about how they were going to be taking drugs the
moment they left.’ In common with other people with a military background he also
struggled with the ‘sharing’ aspect of some treatment. ‘I’ve always preferred the one-
on-one – I’m not a great group person – and I get on with Donna and all her
colleagues brilliantly.
‘The thing I like is that they talk to you,’ he says. ‘They don’t talk at you or down
to you – they talk it through, which being ex-service is what you need. I honestly
don’t think I’d be here if it wasn’t for Donna and her colleagues. I can’t praise them
enough. It made me realise that somebody actually cared.’
www.combatstress.org.uk
Addaction report – It's not just about recovery: the Right Turn veteran-specific
recovery service evaluation, at www.fim-trust.org
Finding it hard to
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July/August 2017 | drinkanddrugsnews | 7