Mens Health Australia May 2017

respected, contributing member of a team

now serves only to remind him of what

he is no longer,” Perkins writes. “His skills

are not easily transferable to civilian roles.

His communication style is likely to cause

offence. He feels useless. Having lived to

serve, having risked death to serve, he can

no longer be of service.”

THE KILLING FIELDS

Fighting wars in the 21st century would

frazzle Atilla the Hun. While they’ve always

been nightmarish, there was a time when at

least you knew who your enemy was. They

wore a uniform. They were also bound by the

rules of engagement. Now any civilian might

have a bomb strapped to their chest, and any

street, market, building or patch of dirt could

be rigged with IEDs.

The result: unrelenting stress. Its effect:

when it comes to developing PTSD or not,

“everyone’s bucket is a different size,” says

Bale. “You and I could go through the exact

same experience and I’m fine and you’re a

mess...ifnotnow,then five years on.”

Typical of veterans – and of men generally

• Goodman waited too long to seek help.
  “I didn’t want to be one of those people,”
  he says.
  One of those people?
  “People that need a hand. Who come back
  from overseas screwed up.”
  There’s also the shock of betrayal.
  Generally speaking, veterans tend to expect
  that in return for having risked death for their
  country, their government will thereafter
  treat them compassionately, especially if
  their service has left physical or mental scars.
  Often, however, they feel the opposite is
  true: that the state plays the role of adversary
  in veterans’ claims for support. To ex
  servicemen, betrayal may also take the form
  of attempts from within the defence force to
  change military culture – to de-masculinise it
  in the misguided pursuit of greater diversity.
  Once the will to live is gone, what’s
  left to prevent the suicidal act except
  squeamishness? But oftentimes that doesn’t
  apply to fighting men. “The veteran has
  become inured to blood and gore,” argues
  Sarah Perkins. “He has been immersed in
  a culture where death must be viewed
  without fear.”

MAKING PEACE

It’s 9am and Iraq veteran Ben Whiley is

standing in a paddock in Canungra, a short

drive west from the Gold Coast. An old,

brown thoroughbred called Foxy trots over

to him. She’s had a hard life and is always in

pain. Over several weeks, man and beast form

a bond. Sometimes Foxy cheers him up; other

times he soothes her.

That was two years ago, when Whiley’s

PTSD had the better of him. For treatment,

Mates4Mates steered him towards its equine

program, which could be one small part of the

solution to veteran suicide.

“Horses are incredibly intuitive,” explains

psychologist Christie. “They’re also a

flight animal. If you’re angry, demanding,

anxious, the horse picks that up and won’t

have anything to do with you. It forces you

to look at your internal state.” Once you’ve

found calmness and acceptance, he says, you

deepen your connection with the horse. It’s

a neat metaphor for reconciliation with the

civilian world.

Back in Brisbane, training beside Goodman

is his girlfriend, Jess Lane. “If it wasn’t for

her, I wouldn’t be here,” he says. “Not a

chance. She’s been my carer for four years.”

Jess and her family nudged Goodman

towards Mates4Mates, where ex servicemen

and their families can access services

including acupuncture, massage and

psychology. His sessions with Christie were

crucial to his recovery, Goodman says, as

was the social component: the post-workout

catch-ups over coffee, the barbecues, fishing

days and movie nights. It’s the therapeutic

power of being around people who

understand you. “You can relate to people in

this building without really saying anything,”

says Goodman.

“Gym’s the perfect therapy,” he adds. “Just

to smash a session. That’s why I train hard:

you just blow everything away.”

It’s not as though the ADF wipes its hands

of departing members. ADF Transition

Centres are dotted around the country.

Goodman recalls attending a transition

seminar, though he describes it “as hanging

out in an auditorium for two days”.

Many veterans believe that preparation

for transition needs to start earlier – back in

basic training. “Recruits are taught how to

kill, how not to be killed, how to obey orders

and how not to catch VD,” Kenneth E. Park,

a former professional Army officer, told the

Senate investigation. “They are not taught

how to deal with the trauma of actually killing

another human, of seeing a mate blown to

pieces. Today most youths have never even

killed a chook.” The answer? “Some form

of desensitising training has to precede

battlefield exposure.”

I ask Goodman whether part of the

challenge for the ex serviceman is persuading

himself that civilian life is merely different to

life in the military and not inferior?

“Exactly right! Exactly right, man,” he

says. “It took me a long time to get over that.”

He still has bad days. Life can be humming

along and then, bang! “You wake up a

different person. It hits you and you feel like

you’re back to where you were.”

But in mind and body, he’s so much better

than he was. The drugs and booze are behind

him. He eats like a nutritionist, trains like

an athlete and works as a liaison officer for

Mates4Mates. And he has Jess. “There’s no

choice,” he says simply. “You have to start

being a normal person again.”

Some of the better ideas

for tackling the veteran

suicide crisis could be

adapted to your own life

for a surge in contentment

and sense of purpose

Contact with people with whom you

sharehistory–likemembersofyour

old unit or schoolmates – outranks

wealth for promoting feelings of

wellbeing,a2016studybythe

London School of Economics found.

Your risk of developing mental illness

almost doubles if you’re unemployed,

according to ABS statistics. Soldier

On’s Veterans’ Employment Initiative

fast-tracks qualified ex-service

personnel straight to the interview

phase of job applications with 22

signatory companies.

Defence personnel require additional

experiences during basic training that

will serve to desensitise them to the

sights and sounds of battle. Suggests

former Army officer Kenneth E. Park:

“Why not visit a morgue? Why not

spendadayattheabattoirs?”Could

toughen you up, too, next time you

have to dispose of road kill.

Daily contact with an animal – not

necessarily a horse – can alleviate the

symptoms of mental illness. A 2016

study published inBMC Psychiatry

found 60 per cent of participants

placed their pets in their central circle

of support.

Will to Live

SEEK HELP

Beyond Bluebeyondblue.org.au

Lifeline Australia13 11 14

Mates4Matesmates4mates.org

Soldier Onsoldieron.org.au

MAY 2017^117

RUSSELL SHAKESPEARE