That’s the message Nadia Titley wants to share with current and former members of the Australian Defence Forces. 

Australia has a long and proud history of military service going back more than 100 years. 

But as secretary of the Launceston RSL sub-branch Ms Titley has seen Launceston ADF members struggle alone, sometimes with devastating consequences. 

Homeless. Struggling with post traumatic stress disorder. Isolated. Even suicidal. 

Ms Titley saw a gap between those in need and the support provided to them. 

Seven months ago, she started developing an ADF Welfare Team to address the welfare needs of those in crisis. 

“I’ve been able to save five lives in seven months with just what I’ve done,” Ms Titley said. 

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The initiative is a dedicated service to support current and former ADF members who have fallen on hard times or might just be struggling. 

They provide everything from a friendly ear that understands, to support packs for people who find themselves homeless, to helping with housing and accommodation. 

Since starting the welfare initiative, which services the North and North West, Ms Titley said the demand has been “huge”.

“It’s getting bigger, the more we get out there the more that keeps coming in,” she said. 

ADF Welfare Team officer Natalie Sankey said those accessing services and help are “the tip of the iceberg”.

“What you can see there's probably 100 times more people in need than are actually accessing any services,” she said. 

There are a range of things that might lead a service man or woman into crisis, but speaking to the ADF Welfare Team there are some common recurring factors. 

Many struggle to return to civilian life after serving in the military, added to which PTSD can wreak havoc on ADF members and those close to them. 

“When you’re part of the military it's a real family sort of environment and when you become a civilian sometimes it can be quite challenging to have that difference,” Ms Sankey said 

Fellow welfare officer Barrie Curtis said, “The longer you serve in any service, whether it’s Navy, Army, Air Force, the harder it is to adjust when you get outside, you’re so used to the discipline and then to come out and readjust ... is very hard.”

Ms Titley adds, “Once they've finished serving they come home, they dont have that rifle any more so they now feel vulnerable because they can't protect themselves even though they're back in civilian life they all still can have a trigger that ... can go into panic attacks and things.”

For many who have served in the armed forces it is “near impossible” to share their experiences with family and friends who haven’t served alongside them. 

"They don't want to inflict that pain across onto those that they love so they have a tendency to shut off and bottle it, which is not okay because that pops,” Ms Titley said. 

“Nine times out of 10 it’s when they'll have an outbreak and things happen and then that’s when they become homeless and things go really bad.”

Ms Sankey said lots of ADF members adopt an “I’ll be right” attitude and try to deal with their struggles themselves. Some try to escape.

“There’s many ways that people escape ... into a whole range of coping mechanisms that are not always healthy … alcoholism, drug use, relationship issues it just goes on and on, it’s very complex,” she said. 

“What we’re trying to do is normalise it and say, ‘Look this is part of the human condition, it’s very easy to feel that you think you've got it in control and you haven’t, but there’s someone there to talk to’.”

She said getting help early is important.

ADF Welfare Team officer Trindy Hogan knows the ripple effect these issues can have through families. 

“My great grandfather was a World War I veteran, he left his wife and small son and we didn't know that he was still in Australia,” she said. 

“He left Tasmania and he died in 1972 and my grandfather, my father and I were robbed of his presence in our lives and he went away because he couldn't deal, he didn’t want to inflict himself.”

Ms Titley said while it is changing, there has been a stigma attached to PTSD, with many reluctant to talk about their mental health. 

She hopes people will learn it is okay to come forward for help, even if that just means a chat. 

“We want to try and hit these guys before they get to critical,” she said. 

The welfare team is calling for donations for support packs; things like toiletries, blankets and socks. 

“The thing is PTSD is one of those things that was always ‘Shh don't talk about it,’ and these guys are now getting put into hospital, but when they get admitted to hospital they go with the clothes on their back, that’s it,” Ms Titley said. 

“Then it’s up to us to make sure that they have their toothbrush, toothpaste, their towel even, something they can actually say is theirs.”

Donations can be made to the Launceston RSL on Wellington Street.

The team of welfare officers said the grassroots response of the newly formed ADF Welfare Team to help out highlights the need for more support services for ADF members to address the high rates of homelessness and suicide they see.

But in the meantime, their door will be open. 

“If there’s a need and [we] have identified it … we can’t wait for the government to do it we can wait for the rest of the community to do it, we have to do it,” Ms Sankey said.