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.
Professor Patricia Casey said she did not believe retired Captain Patrick Holmes, St Mary's Road, Galway, has PTSD according to the 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, can't watch television or the news, cannot read newspapers, and often develop depression, Prof Casey also 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 ), against the Minister for Defence and the Attorney General.
Mr Holmes claims he suffered PTSD after experiencing four life-threatening situations while serving with UN peace keeping troops in Lebanon in 1981.
Prof Casey said her opinion of Mr Holmes' 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 abstention from his duties.
He had also applied to go back to Lebanon and had commissioned a painting to remind him of Lebanon.
She said she had seen Mr Holmes on April 4 2005 and conducted a "very difficult" examination. While Mr Holmes was very pleasant, 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, on his return from Lebanon, his family had noted he was like "a zombie".
He also told her he was still getting nightmares two or three times a year and sometimes got flashbacks and could see comrades jumping for cover.
He had also said he became withdrawn and could never marry because he didn't want to be around people since the incidents in Lebanon.
He had described himself as gregarious prior to his tour of duty but a solitary person since his return.
In his action, 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, including an attack on an outpost in Lebanon while he was in command and another attack close to a landover in which he was patrolling.
He also claimed he feared he was in danger of summary execution after being detained and interrogated by a Syrian officer.
A consultant psychiatrist who gave evidence for Mr Holmes, Dr Miriam Moore, said she believed he had suffered PTSD as a result of his experiences.
Dr Moore said she undertook a lengthy consultation with Mr Holmes in November 1998.
Dr Moore, author of a report on PTSD in soldiers between 1991 and 1994, said she found Mr Holmes to be “a sad man with a great tenseness about him”.
She said Mr Holmes considered four events which happened during his time in Lebanon to have been life-threatening incidents, and these were “sufficient” to give rise to PTSD.
The hearing before Mr Justice Sean Ryan continues.
