Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD - War Trauma)

It has been estimated that 30% of Vietnam war veterans, 10% Gulf war veterans, 6% to 11% Afghanistan war veterans and 12% to 20% of veterans of the Iraq war have suffered from Post Traumatic Stress disorder. This is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to one or more terrifying events.

The history of PTSD date back to the early 1800’s where military doctors began diagnosing soldiers with "exhaustion" following the stress of battle. This "exhaustion" was characterized by mental shutdown due to individual or group trauma. Around this time there was a syndrome in England called ‘railway spine’ or ‘railway hysteria which bares a resemblance to what we call PTSD today. This was found by people who had been in the catastrophic railway accidents of that time.
In World War I and II the term ‘shell shock’ and combat fatigue’ were terms to describe veterans who exhibited stress and anxiety after being in combat. The official designation of "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" did not come about until 1980 when the Third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) was published.

This anxiety disorder occurs when you are afraid and your body activates the fight or flight response. This reaction to fight releases adrenaline, which is responsible for increasing your blood pressure and heart rate as well as increasing glucose to muscles (to allow you to run away quickly in the face of immediate danger). However when this danger has gone your body begins to go through a process that shuts down the stress response and this process involves the release of another hormone known as cortisol. If your body doesn’t generate enough cortisol to shut down the stress reaction you may continue to feel the effects of adrenaline. Trauma victims who develop post-traumatic stress disorder often have higher levels of other stimulating hormones (catecholamines) under normal conditions in which the threat of trauma is not present. These same hormones kick in when they are reminded of their trauma.

Military Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a very serious disorder with symptoms such as self harm, anger, violence and drug addiction as well as depression. All of these are common symptoms of Military Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and sadly affects thousands of soldiers every year who have serviced in the armed forces. Treating Military Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is done through psychotherapy and basic counselling but can take a lot of time and patience.

Sadly a number of people who are experiencing and suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as ‘war trauma’, is said to hugely increase in the next few years due to the number of soldiers who are fighting in areas such as Helmand and Basra. There are concerns that the Iraq war is producing more cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder than any other conflict in decades, one of the main reasons for this is that the violence has been so widespread and exposure to it so constant over long periods of time. The suicide bombers, roadside mines and the constant threat of attack within the Iraq war poses a unique challenge to the mental health of the soldiers who are serving in it.

If you are one of those suffering and are thinking of claiming compensation for you suffering then you should do so right away. It is your civil and legal right to claim compensation for injuries psychological and mental. No-one should suffer in silence.

Carolyn is the webmaster of Accident Consult Ltd, specialists in Claiming compensation for PTSD.

MRSA Compensation Claims

MRSA stands for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. It is also better known and referred to as the ‘superbug.’ It has been around since 1961 despite popular belief. It was only in the early 90’s that it spread quite dramatically and caused health problems and even death to many people in the UK. According to the UK office for National Statistics, they sadly reported 1,629 MRSA-related deaths in England and Wales during 2005.

The virus can be easily spread by merely being in contact with someone who has it, but it can also be spread through contact with towels, sheets, clothes, dressings or other objects. The MRSA virus can also survive on objects and surfaces such as door handles, sinks, floors and cleaning equipment. You can diagnose MRSA through blood and urine tests

The baceria is called Staphylococcus Aureus and apparently 1 in 3 of us carries it on the surface of our skin or in our nose. This generally causes no harm if the carrier is healthy; however if a carrier comes into contact with a vulnerable patient, i.e. someone with lowered immune system, a person with open wounds or someone who has just had surgery the they can pass the infection onto these people.

If the bacteria Staphylococcus Aureus gets into your body through a break in your skin it can cause infections such as boils, abscesses, or impetigo. If the bacteria gets inside into your bloodstream it can cause more serious infections such as the blood poisoning, septic shock, severe joint problems, bone marrow infection, internal abscesses anywhere within the body, inflammation of the tissues that surround the brain and spinal cord, lung infection or infection of the heart lining.

Trying to prevent the spread of MRSA is a tricky business. The measures to prevent the spread of organisms from one person to another are called isolation or infection control. The most important type of isolation is called contact isolation where everyone in contact of the MRSA sufferer has to wash their hands after touching the patient or anything to do with the patient. If there are a number of patients infected with MRSA then moving them to an isolation unit is the safest way to minimise the spread.

Unfortunately more and more people are going into hospital for minor illnesses or ailments only to catch MRSA and end up far sicker than previously. It is worth pursuing a compensation claim if this happens to you as you shouldn’t have caught this virus and suffered in this way. You are well within your rights to make a claim for compensation even though it can be difficult to prove clinical negligence. A professional lawyer should be enlisted to help you. There is no need to worry about lawyers fees as there is the ‘no win no fee’ agreement that allows anyone to take on a compensation claim. The lawyer will be working for free and only in the event of the winning case will the lawyers fees be paid via the insurance of the losing party. If the case is lost there is insurance to cover fees.


Carolyn Clayton is the webmaster for accidentconsult.com, experts in claiming compensation for MRSA.

Personal Injury Claims Need Overhaul

The future of personal injury litigation and its effect of personal injury solicitors hang in the balance after The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has continued to voice its concerns over expediting a much needed overhaul of the system.

The ABI published a consultation paper over a year ago and are still anxiously awaiting a substantive response from the Ministry of Justice. The ABI suggested imposing a system of fixed fees, giving insurers the job of investigating cases and increasing the limit on fast track cases from £15,000 to £25,000.

The ABI is the trade association for Britain’s insurance industry. Its member companies provide over 90% of the insurance business in the UK. It represents insurance companies to the Government, and to the regulatory and other agencies, and is a powerful voice on public policy and financial services issues. ABI member companies hold up to a sixth of all investments traded on the London Stock Exchange, on behalf of millions of pensioners and savers.

The research in the consultation paper contended that injury claims following a motor accident took on average two years to settle, with three years on average for workplace claims. This time span was deemed unacceptable and to help temper such problems, the ABI suggested that insurers should be able to investigate claims in the first instance, so that where they admitted liability, they could move straight away to negotiating settlement.

Personal injury solicitors, in particular, were condemned for paying high referral fees to claims management companies. The report recommended that reducing legal costs was the key to delivering a fairer and more efficient system.

Furthermore, it was suggested by the ABI that it has become an increasingly worrying trend that a person who has been injured goes to a lawyer who does a vast amount of unnecessary research, before putting the claim anywhere near the insurer thus increasing the time gap.

Critics of the ABI have suggested that the recommendations are simply a cost cutting exercise and will have no considerable effect

Although the ABI has been impatient for news from the government as per promised changes, the government has already drawn up plans to improve the process and the ABI is keen to see them implemented, so that claims can be settled swiftly.

Under the new proposals, personal injury solicitors would have five days after being contacted by a claimant in which to notify insurers of a potential claim.

Insurers would have 15 days in the case of a motor claim, and 30 days for a workplace or public liability claim, to decide whether or not they are going to settle.

Saurav is an author of several articles pertaining to No Win No Fee, Compensation Claims, Personal Injury Claims and other legal articles.

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