UK Edition
SAS hero Chris Ryan claims he was 'pressured' to hide PTSD from doctors by army superior
An SAS hero turned author has claimed he was pressured into hiding symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder from psychiatrists by a superior officer.
Chris Ryan, the only man to escape unscathed during an infamous Gulf War operation in 1991, said he was left mentally scarred by the conflict and struggled once back in the UK.
Speaking at the Henley Literary Festival about his new career writing fiction, the veteran suggested the culture of the military can lead to mental health issues being suppressed.
He recalled at one stage being ordered by a commanding officer (CO) to insist that he was “alright” during an assessment by two psychiatrists.
The best-selling author, whose real name is Colin Armstrong, told an audience: "Within the culture of the military, it's this thing where you certainly didn't talk to anybody. You couldn't open your heart up, because you felt weak.
"I can remember coming out of the Gulf... and we were called up to the CO’s office. We'd had a doctor posted to the regiment for two years, and he'd then gone into psychiatry and he wanted to make a permanent base in the camp.
"You can imagine the work we were doing, our head shed did not want us spilling our guts to a psychiatrist from a legal point of view. I know how bad my behaviour was, it was what you would deem post traumatic stress. My marriage broke up and I got rid of the only two people that loved me.
"In the CO’s office, he said 'right, in five minutes time you're going through into that office and there's going to be two psychiatrists there. Tell them you're alright'."
Despite being tormented by nightmares as well as experiencing changes in his own behaviour, the soldier lied about the symptoms he had been experiencing.
His PTSD was left untreated, a move that he suggested ultimately wrecked his marriage.
Mr Ryan was a member of the notorious Bravo Two Zero patrol during the first Iraq war, which inspired a book of the same name by his patrol commander, Andy McNab.
Their mission behind enemy lines was rumbled, leading to the capture or death of all members of the patrol except Mr Ryan, who walked nearly 200 miles to safety across the desert into Syria.
Calling for increased mental health support for soldiers, he said: "These young men who are leaving the military now, one minute they're in a structured organisation and the next they're on the streets. A lot of soldiers come from broken backgrounds, poor backgrounds and they don't have that support.
"They leave and because of the pressure they've been under for the last 20 years, a lot of them become homeless and a lot for them commit suicide, and we don't know how many have died."