A CONSULTANT psychiatrist has told the High Court she believes a retired Army captain who is suing the State for damages for alleged post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his experiences in Lebanon does not actually have PTSD and, if he has, it is no more than “mild” PTSD.
Prof Patricia Casey said she did not believe retired Capt Patrick Holmes has PTSD, according to criteria laid down for that condition. If he had anything, it would be mild PTSD, she said.
Those with severe PTSD simply do not function – they tremble, cannot watch television, cannot read newspapers and often develop depression, Prof Casey said. PTSD was not “a silent condition” but was “very noticeable”.
Prof Casey was giving evidence for the State in the continuing action by Mr Holmes (54), St Mary’s Road, Galway, against the Minister for Defence and the Attorney General. Mr Holmes claims he suffered PTSD after experiencing four life-threatening situations while with UN peace-keeping troops in Lebanon in 1981.
Yesterday, Prof Casey said her opinion of Mr Holmes’s condition was based on the fact he had not gone to his GP after returning from Lebanon, continued to work in the Army, and had a low rate of absence from his duties. He also applied to go back to Lebanon.
She said she had seen Mr Holmes on April 4th, 2005, and conducted a “very difficult” examination. Mr Holmes was very pleasant, but it was difficult to get a spontaneous account of his symptoms, as he read the symptoms he experienced from a notebook.
She said Mr Holmes had related to her the four incidents at the centre of the proceedings and had also said that, on his return from Lebanon, his family had noted he was like “a zombie”. He told her he was still getting nightmares two or three times a year, and sometimes got flashbacks. He had said he became withdrawn and could never marry because he did not want to be around people since the incidents in Lebanon. He had described himself as gregarious prior to his tour of duty.
Also yesterday, a consultant psychiatrist with the British army, Col Martin Philip Deahl, said he believed that if Mr Holmes had PTSD, he would have been unable to function at a level where he had obtained a Masters degree.
Col Deahl said: “Nobody is the same after going to war. War changes an individual. It is inevitable.” Noting that Irish troops in Lebanon were peace-keepers, he also said: “If you are not allowed to shoot back at people, it makes life a lot more stressful.”
Mr Holmes alleged the Army failed to properly diagnose or treat his PTSD. He claims that condition arose from his experiences of four incidents in Lebanon.
A consultant psychiatrist who earlier gave evidence for Mr Holmes, Dr Miriam Moore, has said she believed he suffered PTSD as a result of his experiences. The hearing before Mr Justice Seán Ryan continues.