‘I was thrown on to the slag heap by the MOD, but now a weight has been lifted’

Returning home was a relief, but Owers’ PTSD symptoms were steadily becoming more apparent, even outside of the theatre of war. He started having nightmares and flashbacks, became hyper-vigilant and developed symptoms related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). He also became increasingly uncomfortable with large crowded areas. All this played out against the backdrop of running the Defence Terrorist Bomb Disposal Training School in Kineton, Warwickshire.

Rather than confront the issues, Owers again opted for the path taken by many other service personnel suffering from the after effects of intense trauma, and tried to ignore them.

However, in 2015, things began to unravel after a chance conversation during a bout of physiotherapy for a knee injury. 

“The physio was asking me about my time in Afghanistan. After a few sessions she said, I think you need to see someone, I think you need some help,” Owers says.

“So I arranged an appointment with an RAF mental health nurse, which I kept secret from my chain of command. At that stage, I wanted to get my life back together and be the person I was before. But in the very first session he said: ‘Let’s cut to the chase. You’ve got PTSD. I can get you medically discharged with some compensation.’

“I was shocked and said, ‘I’m a late entry major and I want to be a lieutenant colonel. I’ve got a whole career ahead of me.’” 

Owers, whose other military honours include an MBE for his second tour in Afghanistan and a Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in Iraq, was then offered a form of therapy called Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing, designed to help process and recover from past experiences.

“It didn’t work for me because my PTSD is linked to multiple traumas. I was then given cognitive behavioural therapy and that was partially successful,” he says. “Then I was placed on anti- depressants and sent on sick leave. Suddenly I wasn’t doing the job I loved. I was at home on my own because my wife, who’s in education, was working. I was on drugs which made me feel like a zombie.”

On July 17 2017, Owers’ 27-year military career came to an abrupt end when he was medically dis- charged. Since then, he has spent the last seven years living half a life.

Today, however, Wayne finally feels as though he has a second chance, having had effective counselling. His HGI therapist has worked with him using the Rewind Technique, which places the patient in a deep relaxed state of semi-hypnosis before rewinding the brain and reprogramming it to overcome trauma. Owers was often triggered by noise from military helicopters, which instantly caused him to feel anxiety and fear. But while undergoing Rewind Therapy, his therapist focused his brain on when he was a very young child and how he was inspired and amazed by the machines.

The process of fast-forwarding and rewinding the two situations during the treatment reprogrammed his brain to recognise the sound of a helicopter as a positive thing, not linked to trauma but instead to his childhood experience of awe.

“I’ve now had six sessions and my life has been transformed. I can honestly say the treatment is revolutionary. My nightmares are subsiding. My OCD has diminished hugely and I no longer get anxious. As a family, we’re going to see Paloma Faith play. I wouldn’t even have considered that just a few months ago,” he says.

Now, Owers hopes others will follow his lead once again. 

“I want to get the message out there and tell any veterans or their dependents who still have PTSD to get in touch with PTSD Resolution. They offer free therapy and it has changed my life and many others’ more,” he says. “For the first time in years I feel happy and contented, like a huge weight has been lifted.”