Gavin Tunstall threw himself into army life and loved every moment — but things started to fall apart after he saw the bodies of children killed in combat in Afghanistan, the royal commission into veterans' suicide hears.
Searching for a purpose in life, Gavin Tunstall joined the Australian Army in 2005 and quickly found one.Mr Tunstall said he struggled to cope with what he had seen in Afghanistan, and his mental health declined significantlyHe is now working to teach veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder how to scuba dive"It gave me a group of men to be around.
He went on his first lot of mental health leave but said he soon started hiding his symptoms to get back to work and progress through the ranks. The lack of support for service personnel and veterans' families has been a common theme of the royal commission.Mr Tunstall was placed on medication and his mental health started to improve, but he said a new doctor and a change of medication meant things started to unravel again.
He was arrested on domestic violence charges in early 2020 and told the commission that the officer who arrested him was a member of the Army Reserves.Mr Tunstall said he struggled to cope with what he saw in Afghanistan. He said he was now working with a provider teaching veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder how to scuba dive, in a bid to ensure others do not go through what he did."I want to offer that to other people like myself who are stuck. I don't want any more [veterans] to take their own life."But while Mr Tunstall is receiving support, he told the royal commission his family had been effectively abandoned.
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