With recent figures showing that almost one in 50 servicemen and women were diagnosed with mental health problems last year, the Ministry of Defence signed a three-year contract in June to provide EMDR for personnel with psychological trauma.

Had it come earlier, this initiative might have made all the difference to Hilary.

The 55-year-old from Stafford, who became a reservist 16 years ago, was deployed to Iraq in May 2003 in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s fall. She was a flight lieutenant nursing officer managing a team of 15 nurses at the hospital at Al Amarah base.

Everything was routine until June 24, when the bodies of the six murdered Red Caps were brought to the base. Hilary was responsible for tending to the bodies before they were repatriated, and performing the last offices. the injuries the soldiers had suffered were horrific; as well as being shot multiple times, they had been attacked with machetes.

Later that same year, with the arrival of her first grandchild, Hilary returned home to civilian life, believing that she had coped with what she had witnessed. but in 2004, working as an occupational health nurse, she was called to attend to a seriously injured railway worker.

“I rolled up his sleeve to take his blood pressure, and saw a Celtic tattoo,” she recalls. “it was the same as one I had seen on the arm of a dead soldier. I was instantly transported back to Iraq. I could see the bodies and smell the cordite, the blood, the stench.”

Soon Hilary found herself reliving the horror “film” of that day in Iraq on a daily basis.

“it got to the point that I knew when the ‘film’ was starting to come – I would see one of the men’s faces – and do a bargain in my head that I would ‘watch’ it later. it was the only way I could do a day’s work. but as soon as I left work and got into my car, it would come. Sometimes it would last five minutes, sometimes hours. the ‘film’ would always end with my feelings of utter failure.

“one evening a policeman came to my car to ask if I was OK. it was about 1am – and I had been sitting there, outside the office, having a flashback since 6pm.

“I also developed rituals – I would go through the names of the dead soldiers every day and talk to them.”

Outwardly she was determined to carry on as usual. “I was ashamed and embarrassed,” she says. “I had been such a senior nurse and here I was weeping like a child. I was tormented by thoughts of why had I been given the dead to look after, not the living. Was I not a good enough nurse?”

Hilary, who is divorced with three grown-up sons and two granddaughters, adds: “before Iraq I had been in a serious relationship, but that ended after I came back. I now understand that it broke down because of everything I had been through.”

Things came to a head in 2009 when Hilary, by now lead consultant nurse for a large insurance company, was on her way to work. “the next thing I knew I was sitting in the park opposite the station having a flashback and an acquaintance was asking me if I was all right.”

This time Hilary went to her GP. She was also assessed by a military liaison officer and diagnosed with severe PTSD. “the military were supportive in a way that they hadn’t been in 2003,” Hilary says. “Back then I had mentioned that I thought I wasn’t right, but was told to get a grip, that I would be fine once I got back to civvy street.”

But now she was quickly referred for EMDR with Dr Shirley Timpson, a clinical psychologist specialising in PTSD at Stafford Hospital.

“I had serious doubts, but my GP had told me that if I didn’t take it seriously, then he would say I couldn’t work with patients any more.

“I had to look at a bank of blue lights. Dr Timpson then darkened the room and a light would flash from left to right which I had to follow with my eyes as I recalled what had happened.”

Therapists can create a similar effect by waving their fingers from left to right, or by clicking their fingers alternating from ear to ear. Hilary adds: “we realised the trigger for the flashbacks was the face of one of the men, and so she took me back to that repeatedly, asking me what I had felt.

“Those early sessions were traumatic. Each lasted for an hour or two, and I would be exhausted afterwards. For a while the flashbacks got worse.

“but during the fourth session I was able to recall that day without feeling dread, panic, fear or anger. From that point, we concentrated on how I wanted to remember those events – as an experience I could learn from professionally. I started to feel I had done a good job, rather than an overwhelming sense of failure.”

It’s not known exactly how EMDR works, but the act of repeatedly moving the eyes from left to right is thought to help unblock the brain’s information-processing system, which experts believe becomes frozen as a result of mental trauma.

While EMDR – which was developed in the 1980s by Dr Francine Shapiro, an American psychologist – doesn’t make distressing memories go away, it often causes them to lose their power.

While clinical trials have demonstrated high success rates, critics say eye movement plays no part in its effectiveness and that the therapy is simply a means of desensitisation. but the therapy has influential supporters. William Yule, Emeritus Professor of Applied Child Psychology at King’s College London, uses it for patients with PTSD and was on the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence committee that first approved EMDR for use in PTSD in 2005.

“when I first heard about it, it seemed crazy, but there was interesting outcome data,” Professor Yule says. “I had quite amazing success with children suffering from psychological trauma. in one series of cases, nine out of 10 lost their symptoms after three sessions.

“Yes, it’s an effective treatment without an explanation – but it shouldn’t be dismissed because of that.”

“I was able to recover happy memories of Iraq – the time one of the lads sourced me some of my favourite marmalade, the day we had a pretend wedding with mosquito nets. and how positive it was that I, an experienced nurse, was there on that day. it would have been unfair to ask a less experienced colleague to look after the bodies of those soldiers.

“most importantly, it was a privilege to care for those men at the end of their lives.”

What is PTSD and how is it treated?

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological condition that can develop after witnessing or experiencing a distressing event. Triggers include military combat, losing a loved one, violent mental or physical assault, natural disasters and serious road accidents.

The symptoms, which sometimes occur years after the event, are varied, but usually include flashbacks or nightmares in which patients relive the trauma. Sufferers may be distracted, unable to sleep and feel isolated from friends and family. it can have an impact on personal relationships, employment and driving ability.

PTSD affects up to 30 per cent of people who have had a traumatic experience. it can occur at any stage of life, including childhood, and is present in one in every 20 men and one in every 10 women. Treatment options range from patient monitoring to medication, cognitive behavioural therapy and eye-movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR). .

For more information about PTSD visit www.mind.org.uk. Sarah Rainey

Lights signal end of Iraq trauma

Maori tattoo designs are always a going to be a great choice. With that said, finding the truly superb artwork for this style on the web can be quite impossible. So many men and women are spending their time at low end galleries that have nine years old artwork that is as generic as it gets. Here is why that happens, along with simple tips to get right past it while finding the great Maori tattoo designs on the net.

Let’s start things off by talking briefly about search engines and finding tattoos. I assume you are like 95% of the people out there who look for tattoos, which means you are using them to find the good Maori tattoo designs out there. This is precisely where everything seems to go wrong. All that tends to pull up in these search results are the low end galleries that have a bunch of cookie cutter tattoos to choose from.

That’s not even the worst part of it, though.

It seems like a trend, because a lot of these galleries are putting up images that weren’t even meant to be used as real tattoos It’s a big deal, but these places don’t really care. the only thing they really care about is packing their websites with more and more artwork. who cares if half of the images they put up are not truly artwork for real tattoos.

I will tell you why you should care. It’s because people will pick these random images and run to go get them tattooed. Little do they know that it probably won’t come out looking anywhere near as good as it looked on paper. Those are not Maori tattoo designs you want to settle for. you want clean, crisp Maori tattoo designs that were drawn precisely the way tattoos need to be drawn.

Ok, enough of that depressing stuff. Here’s how to find tons of fresh Maori tattoo designs and the galleries that have them.

Since search engines are the #1 way to find any sort of websites n the web, most people don’t know of another option. a good alternative for finding great galleries happens to be internet forums. why forums? because tattoos are a huge subject in a lot of the bigger forums out there. since it’s such a big topic, you can be sure that hundreds of people are posting the links that they have found to the hidden galleries they have uncovered. you can find great Maori tattoo designs this way and thousands and thousands of other styles that you have been bypassing while using that traditional way of searching for them.

It’s a simple way to find the truly great Maori tattoo designs that you want and I hope that it at least helps you out a little bit on your journey.

Maori Tattoo Designs – Uncovering the Quality Artwork

Disney’s resort on southwest Oahu, Hawaii, is terribly overpriced, overrun with kiddies, and NOT close to the best sights and activities of the island.

Why would you choose to spend that much on a single hotel room for parents and kids when you could rent an entire 2-4 bedroom home in a better location on Oahu, plus a rental car, for less? or rent a nice 2-bd condo in Waikiki next to the beach with lots of amenities for less?

Disney WANTS to corral its visitors so they will spend all their money at their resort, eat at their restaurants, purchase their activities, and not bother exploring the better parts of the island. Disney’s corner of Oahu is on the dry side, so their area is not green, lush, and stunning like some nicer parts of the island.

Families or Spring Breakers can even rent a home or condo with a pool and beach gear within proximity to lots of moderate restaurants, shopping, lush hiking (and waterfalls), and close to major sights. Why strand yourself way out at the expensive Disney resort all crammed into a small hotel room?

I live on Oahu and have raised kids there. Right now, some residents and vacations home/condo owners really need the income from their rentals on Oahu and therefore their prices are more competitive than Disney. Just check out the major vacation rental websites.

Caution: Do not stay on the western side of Oahu because while lodging may be a bit cheaper, the west costal region has higher crime and is less visitor-friendly. the west side is also a minimum 45 minute drive (worse during rush hour) from most places you’ll want to go.

Best spring break getaways

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Chi.Chinese Symbols nese Tattoo Symbol – Translate Your Words Or Names Into Chinese Symbols

Employees are expected to sign a contract agreeing to employment terms and conditions at the time of taking employment. Sadly, many employees in their euphoria of taking up a new employment tend to overlook the clauses mentioned. many do not really think about the repercussions until they get involved in some dispute or there occurs a breach of contract terms.

Generally, employment disputes are handled in employment tribunals. Costs and expenses in an employment tribunal case are much lesser compared to normal court cases. Initially, employees could represent themselves without having to hire legal experts. These days however, such disputes and unfair breach of contract terms often lead individuals to seeking assistance of employment barristers to handle their legal battle. Having the legal expertise and support provided by employment barristers takes care of all angles that need to be considered in a legal employment related cases.

You might have often heard about an employee not being able to leave his or her present company and join another due to some clause mentioned in the employment contract. Companies that have competition in the market usually refuse immediate release for an employee due to the fear of them passing on confidential information and taking away the former company’s business practices or ideas. with sufficient legal help from barristers, there have been various instances of such employees being able to get a release without much issue.

Barristers who work for employment-based disputes are well versed with terms, conditions, and other clauses in employment agreements and they also know how to get justice for their clients. Reasons for hiring such barristers are manifold – redundancy claims and the protection of one’s rights when a company is sold or merged are common. Hiring of legal expertise for employment-related cases is done not only to represent employees but employers as well.

Litigation is one such aspect that these employment barristers deal with. Various other inquiries are also handled by these barristers such as indiscipline within the premises, fraud etc. A legal company offering services of employment-related barristers usually comprises of a team of barristers on their panel. Depending on the severity of the case and the seniority level of the barrister member concerned, their services are offered. Irrespective of whether one is an employee or an employer, if employment laws are breached, and unfair dealings have been meted out to either of the parties concerned, then hiring employment barristers would be a wise decision.

Seeking Professional Legal Help From Employment Barristers

U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey (R) shakes hands with Lieutenant General Sami Anan, Egypt’s armed forces chief of staff, upon his arrival to meet with head of Egypt’s ruling military council Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi at the Ministry of Defense in Cairo February 11, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Khalil Hamra/Pool

CAIRO | Sat Feb 11, 2012 6:05pm EST

CAIRO (Reuters) – The top U.S. military officer met Egypt’s ruling generals in Cairo Saturday and discussed the case of U.S. pro-democracy activists charged in an investigation that has strained ties between Cairo and Washington.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was the first senior U.S. official to visit Cairo since the charges were brought against 43 foreign and Egyptian activists following a probe into civil society groups.

Around 20 of those charged are Americans. they have been banned from leaving the country and include Sam LaHood, the country director of the International Republican Institute (IRI) who is the son of the U.S. transportation secretary. an undisclosed number have taken shelter at the U.S. embassy.

The case has put a deep strain on relations with Washington, which counted Egypt as a close strategic ally under ousted President Hosni Mubarak and supplies Cairo with an annual $1.3 billion in military aid. Both the U.S. Congress and the White House have said the investigation could threaten the aid.

The investigators have brought charges including that the activists were working for organizations not legally registered in Egypt. The Egyptian government says the issue is a case of law, not politics.

Dempsey met Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi and chief of staff General Sami Anan during meetings at the defense ministry in Cairo.

“They discussed a wide range of issues related to the long-standing security relationship between our two countries, including the issue involving U.S. NGOs,” Colonel David Lapan, a spokesman for Dempsey, told Reuters in a statement.

“We will not, however, further describe the contents and nature of their private discussions,” he added.

In signs the dispute could worsen, however, Egyptian authorities detained an Australian journalist and an American student Saturday on suspicion they had distributed cash to workers and incited them to take part in a strike called by activists demanding an end to army rule.

State news agency MENA said the pair were detained along with their Egyptian translator in the industrial city of al-Mahalla al-Kubra north of Cairo.

They were referred to the prosecutor general for investigation, the agency said, identifying the American student as Derek Ludovici and the Australian journalist as Austin Mackell.

CONGRESS DELEGATION TO VISIT

An Egyptian army official said that in the talks with the United States, the sides had “stressed the importance of the two countries’ commitment to international conventions and treaties and emphasized the depth of the strategic relations between the U.S. and Egypt.”

Dempsey had stressed America’s “keenness to follow up on the process of democratization in Egypt and the efforts of the armed forces to transfer power to civilian rule,” the official said.

The military council which assumed power from Mubarak on February 11, 2011 has pledged to hand over to an elected president at the end of June, completing a transfer to civilians.

The Egyptian official said a delegation from Congress will be visiting Cairo to continue discussions over aid. For U.S. aid to continue, the Obama administration must certify to Congress that Egypt is making progress toward democracy.

It was Dempsey’s first visit to Egypt as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a post he took in October.

In Congress, some lawmakers and their aides have said U.S. aid to Egypt had effectively stopped pending resolution of the crisis.

The U.S. delegation was also due to meet Egypt’s intelligence officials Saturday, the official added, saying that both Tantawi and Anan would meet with the head of U.S. Central Command, General James Mattis Monday.

Following the meeting of the generals, Egypt’s government issued a statement saying it was reviewing the 2002 law regulating the work of non-governmental organizations in Egypt.

Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Faiza Abul Naga said Saturday the review would aim to “resolve any legal gaps in the law.”

U.S. military aid to Egypt accounts for about 25 percent of Egypt’s defense spending per year. The defense budget was $4.56 billion in 2010 – the third-largest in the Middle East after Israel and Saudi Arabia – according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

(Additional reporting by David Alexander in Washington; Writing by Marwa Awad; Editing by Tom Perry and Myra MacDonald)

Top U.S. general discusses NGO case in Cairo

I don’t usually comment on here, but I must say Lucia, I was definitely taken back by some of these amazing commercials. I think Dominoes has done an excellent job with their advertising campaigns and while I’m not a big pizza fan, after seeing that commercial, they would definitely be top of mind for me. also, I was completely amazed at the cover-up commercial. I think because the main character was so intriguing, and the way in which it was produced/created, was really well done. I was literally glued to the screen for the entire 3 minutes. Now, I probably would never purchase the product, but if a friend ever needed a recommendation, they would be the first brand that would pop in my mind.

Another video that I thought really made the viewer think was this one, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U, by Dove. Really casts a light on our reality today and does an excellent job at intriguing the viewer.

Jennifer, I love Google commercials as well! The Google search/Paris spot was great, as was the one where the Dad emailed the daughter pictures of her as she was growing up and then gave her the “email” with all of those messages when she was older. Great content.

Just because I am obsessed with your commercial doesn't mean I'll buy your brand « iMediaConnection Blog

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Gunns Limited executive chairman John Gay. Photo: Peter Mathew

INSIDER trading charges against former Gunns Limited chairman John Gay are to be fought in the Tasmanian Supreme Court.

Gay yesterday entered not guilty pleas to two charges over a $3 million profit he made from two separate sales of the forestry company’s shares in December 2009.

The sales came before a shock 98 per cent slump in half-year profits that sent Gunns’ price plunging 20 per cent in February 2010.

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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleges the inside information held by Gay was the year-to-date revenue, operating earnings before interest and tax, and profit before tax figures in Gunns’ October 2009 management report.

Melbourne barrister Phillip Priest, QC, appeared in the Launceston Magistrates Court to enter the pleas on behalf of Gay, 68, who did not speak. He is due to appear before the Supreme Court on April 16.

The hearing came as the company struggled to find a backer for its controversial $2.3 billion pulp mill project at Bell Bay, in Tasmania.

Last week, vulture fund Richard Chandler Corporation threw Gunns a lifeline, agreeing to buy up to $150 million worth of Gunns shares as part of a deal that the company hopes will raise a total of $280 million.

And a sales process that Gunns hopes will stave off banks owed $340 million is under way, with the company disposing of assets ranging from plantations to a woodchip ship. however, the company has yet to announce a buyer for its Victorian Heyfield sawmill, a transaction it had promised would settle before the end of December.

Gunns shares are now worth a fraction of their $4.37 value at their peak in early 2005. they closed yesterday up half a cent at 17¢, having changed hands for as little as 9.6¢ in December.

Gunns charges denied

I THINK I belonged to a tribe in my past life. why? Because I love all things tribal

Storm financial boss Emmanuel Cassimatis. Photo: Glenn Hunt

THE founders of Storm Financial, Emmanuel and Julie Cassimatis, have hit back at the corporate regulator, saying it repeatedly reviewed the financial planning business before it collapsed spectacularly in 2009.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission launched civil penalty proceedings against mr and mrs Cassimatis in the Federal Court in Brisbane more than a year ago, alleging they breached their duties as directors of Storm.

In a defence document filed on Monday, mr and mrs Cassimatis said ASIC officials ”visited Storm’s premises and conducted reviews and audits on numerous occasions from 1993 to 2008” without raising concerns.

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The pair also blamed the 2008 global financial crisis and shortcomings by banks that lent to Storm clients.

These events were ”not reasonably foreseeable”, the defence said.

ASIC’s case is that the two executive directors breached their duties by allowing Storm to break the law governing financial planners.

It alleges Storm provided ”commoditised” financial advice that was not tailored to each client’s needs, provided false and misleading information in statements of advice to clients, and provided negligent advice.

The regulator wants the court to ban mr and mrs Cassimatis from company directorship and from providing financial advice. It is also seeking fines, which could be up to $200,000 per breach.

The defence said that in addition to checks by ASIC, the Townsville company’s business model was reviewed by external auditors, solicitors, bankers, insurers and academics.

None of these individuals or organisations told mr and mrs Cassimatis of ”any systemic problems of the nature and scale” alleged in ASIC’s statement of claim, they said.

The defence submits that mr and mrs Cassimatis’ obligations as directors were to manage Storm in the interests of ”the shareholders as a general body”.

They were the sole shareholders of Storm, whose 14,000 clients lost an estimated $3 billion when the value of their highly geared stockmarket investments plummeted during the GFC.

The defence said the pair did not breach their duties as directors ”as they conducted the affairs of a solvent company in good faith and in accordance with the informed wishes of its shareholders – themselves”.

The defence said the GFC had not been foreseen by ”any financial adviser in Australia”.

The case returns to court for a directions hearing on February 16.

Storm directors return fire at ASIC