JAMES Haw spent five years struggling with his condition before he was finally diagnosed.

Mr Haw is one of Tasmania’s ex-servicemen and women who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder – a figure the defence force puts at between 5per cent and 20per cent, although stakeholders estimate it to be much higher.

He said knew there was something wrong when he returned from his second deployment in Afghanistan in 2009.

‘‘You know, I think I did my job really well, but I think everyone just sort of has a limit sometimes, and it just sort of got to me towards the end of that trip. I discharged not long after.

‘‘Things just sort of built up and built up; I didn’t really realise I was probably suffering from anxiety right from day one.

‘‘I remember thinking, like I just got back from a three-week patrol in the middle of [Afghanistan], three weeks later I’m at home with my family and kids, and it just wasn’t working for me, I just couldn’t adjust.’’

Mr Haw remembers clearly the rocket attack that put him over the edge.

He was relaxing on base in Afghanistan when he heard – and then saw – an enemy plane fly overhead.

He saw one person die instantly. Another died later.

‘‘The feeling of the shock wave going through your chest, everything ... I used to get flashbacks of that.’’

‘‘It wasn’t until probably another couple of days after that happened I was playing table tennis down at our little REC area – it’s on a slab with a big roof over it – and a fighter jet did fly over and scared the living shit out of me.’’

Mr Haw said it could be difficult for members of the Australian Army to notify the defence force that they were struggling with their mental health, because often it was a career-ending move.

Instead, reporting to Mates4Mates ensured his confidentiality was maintained, because the organisation was not affiliated with the defence force.

These days, Mr Haw is coping much better.

Although he does not expect to fully recover from PTSD, he says he now has the skills to deal with its effects.

‘‘It is hard, and I want to try and help people to get through that first hard step, and that’s what my advice would be – to stick with it and get people to help you do it so you don’t do it alone,’’ he said.

‘‘The hardest step is to take that first step. Most people aren’t going to put their hand up; it is going to take one of their loved ones – their wife or mother or a brother, someone that really loves them, to say, ‘This is not you’.

‘‘I know with the PTSD it’s something I’m always going to have. With the help of a lot of other veterans, it’s given me the tools and the coping mechanisms to deal with it, and try and conquer it, rather than not know what you’re up against and just hoping you’re going to be cured.’’