PTSD Buddies group launched to let sufferers share stories

A new group that aims to help people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) held its first meeting in St. John's on Sunday.

The group is called PTSD Buddies and is intended to get people together who have the condition, to help them share experiences and lean on each other for support.

Jamie MacWhirter, one of the founders of the group, said as someone who has PTSD he believes he can help others who are also struggling with it.

I've learned so much from other, not just veterans, but from anyone suffering with PTSD," he said.

"So I thought if I could just get these people together we would all learn from each other and move forward with our lives."

MacWhirter said his experience serving as a refuel driver in Afghanistan caused him to suffer from frequent anxiety attacks once he returned to Canada, so he felt it would be good for him and anyone else with PTSD to get together and share their stories.

"Since my tour I decided to write a book about my tour, and since the release I've had so many people contact me to talk about PTSD," he said.

"When you have PTSD and you meet someone going through the same thing, you kind of connect with them."

A system that is overstressed and broken

Another person at the meeting over the weekend was Jeff Rose-Martland, who is president of a group that advocates for veterans.

He thinks groups like PTSD Buddies can play an important role in helping those who are struggling after a traumatic experience.

He thinks that currently, there is a lack of support from the traditional healthcare system.

"I don't think anybody with a mental health issue in Newfoundland is being taken care of adequately at all," he said.

"The system is majorly overstressed, under-sourced and it's broken."

Rose-Martland said the rise of mental health problems are reaching a crisis level.

"In our current society, we work with our brains, we work with our minds — and that's why mental illness is on the rise, because we are breaking the muscle that is our brain," he said.

"If we don't start to fix that, we're going to end up with an economic crisis on top of a health crisis."