A VETERAN who struggled to come to terms with his mental illness following a long military career is urging other sufferers to seek the specialist help they need.

Former infantry soldier James Adler, from Catterick Garrison, said facing up to the symptoms of mental illness felt like a sign of weakness.

Even when he was struggling to cope, he continued with his career in the army for years until his family urged him to finally seek help.

Mr Adler was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in September 2013 and has been receiving treatment ever since. He found the support he needed through organisations like Help for Heroes.

Now he is urging other veterans to come forward to get the help they need.

He said: “Help for Heroes is just the beginning of the support out there for you. They can signpost you to more specific individual agencies, such as for the treatment of PTSD, and support you generally throughout your recovery.

“At the beginning, I refused to accept help but Help for Heroes gave me the start I needed to feel more confident about getting on with my life in general. Without the charity, I would not be as far along as I am now. They signposted me to the right people and I always had that support there.”

Mr Adler, 42, joined the Queen’s Lancashire regiment in 1989, which amalgamated to become the Duke of Lancaster Regiment in 2006.

During his career, he served all over the world, including in Northern Ireland and Bosnia.

But it was when he returned from Iraq in 2007 that he noticed things were not quite right.

“I just decided to ignore it,” he said. “I was drinking heavily and my family eventually forced me to get help.

“I went a long time without treatment. I used to think PTSD was just a way out. In the army, you do not accept weakness and you pretend nothing is wrong but after a number of years, I could not deal with it anymore.”

He added: “The smallest thing would make me remember horrific things I had seen,” he said. “There was only so much I could do to pretend it wasn’t happening. It was affecting every part of my work and my family life - it was huge.”

He was medically discharged from the army in March 2015, and has completed a number of courses through the Help for Heroes northern recovery centre, Phoenix House, in Catterick Garrison.

He said: “When I’m at Phoenix House, the staff always makes me feel so welcome. I never feel isolated. I was able to use one of the private rooms for my treatment every week and that helped me to relax.”

Any wounded, injured or sick military personnel or veterans who are in need of support can contact Phoenix House on 01748-834148 or visit www.helpforheroes.org.uk.