David Bickel SHE Manager (London)
McLaren Construction
JUNE 2017
Living and Working with PTSD
3
Living and Working with PTSD
Married 25 years
3 Children
23 years in the British Army
Served in several Conflict and “Hot
Spots”
Left 2005
Diagnosed with PTSD
4
Living and Working with PTSD
Kosovo 1999
Refugee Camp
Thousands fleeing the
fighting
Carrying out first Aid
……..then an incident that
would change my life
years later.
5
Living and Working with PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is
an anxiety disorder caused by very
stressful, frightening or distressing events.
6
Living and Working with PTSD
People who have PTSD may feel
stressed or frightened even when they're
no longer in danger.
Anyone can get PTSD at any age.
This includes war veterans and survivors
of physical and sexual assault, abuse,
accidents, disasters and many other
traumatic events
PTSD can cause many types of
symptoms
7
This is what PTSD feel like living with it.
For starters, all of a sudden you have
absolutely no control over anything.
Your body, your emotions, your reactions,
your thoughts, your dreams, and your will
all do their own thing without any input from
the logical part of your brain.
Just like being on autopilot.
Living and Working with PTSD
8
Afraid to sleep.
I’d sit up all night until I couldn’t stay awake, then finally fall
asleep only to be woken up too soon due to a really bad
dream.
I slipped into a state of constant exhaustion.
I couldn’t get out of bed, and if I did, I couldn’t do anything
no matter how much I tried to will myself to do it.
Between the numbness and outbursts, I kind of lost
empathy, and there went the filter for my mouth, that
stopped me from saying whatever popped into my head.
We lost friends as a result of my outbursts /attitude
Living and Working with PTSD
9
Living and Working with PTSD
I had ANGER issues and refused
the help my family wanted to give
me
Cant watch things where children
are hurt etc
Flashbacks and Nightmare
DRINK
EATING
HOWEVER………………….
What about work
10
Living and Working with PTSD
Struggled to go to work
Concentration
Brining work issues home
Withdrawn from Peers
Irritable
Eventually………….
11
Living and Working with PTSD
Signed off sick
12
Living and Working with PTSD
Doctors
RBL
Combat Stress
SSAFA
CBT (NHS)
Opening up
Setting Goals / Challenges
13
Living and Working with PTSD
Challenges
London Hundred 2014 RBL £1500
London Hundred 2015 Combat Stress £3000
Ride to the Somme 2016 SSAFA £4500
Countryfile told my journey on Remembrance Day 2016
Ride to the Somme 2017 SSAFA £7000
14
Living and Working with PTSD Close Out
PTSD is treatable
Employers need to be aware of mental health
HSE are raising the profile by several initiatives
I am lucky……….
However ………..
15
16