A guitar was all it took, to shift the focus from a place of utter despair, to somewhere a lot brighter.
Former Royal Marine Jamie Sanderson from Exmouth spent 18 years as a sniper with deployments to Northern Ireland, Kosovo, and Afghanistan twice.
It was his experiences on his final tour to Afghanistan in 2006 that were the turning point for him and led to his post traumatic stress disorder setting in.
He said about 80 per cent of those who he served with at the time have also left the corps.
He was finally discharged two years ago, after becoming ill five years before.
For about 18 months, via word of mouth and its Facebook page, Rock to Recovery has saved 14 lives and helped countless others.
When American rock band Linkin Park heard about Jamie, they invited him along to two dates at London's O2 Arena to assist with their own campaign supporting veterans.
And superstar singer Bryan Adams has backed the initiative.
"The most significant point in my career was our Afghanistan tour in 2006," said Jamie. "We went in to take over from the Parachute Regiment in Sangin and it was horrendous. It was very kinetic, full on fighting, being attacked every day.
"It was probably the most dangerous place to be at the time and continued to be so for years to come.
"We had to patrol every day to keep the Taliban at bay and our time coincided with them switching tactic and implementing their improvised explosive device campaign, which we lost one of our guys to.
"We were in a place that was under siege from mortars and rockets, often surrounded from all sides. Sometimes we were under fire from a barrage of 40 mortars from the air.
"It was the most full on thing I'd ever come up against and the most drawn out, intense fighting – it was a nasty experience.
"It took its toll on all of us, you could see it in people's faces – it was nerve wracking, we lived in constant fear, we lost sleep, you're permanently in an angry state.
"Snipers, as the observers, had to keep even more alert than the others, expected to come up with answers about where the Taliban would attack from next. We became massively battle fatigued."
Jamie said, with hindsight, he started to feel the effects out there. But it was six months after returning home that major signs the conflict had taken its toll on him really materialised.
It was during his senior command course at the Commando Training Centre Jamie lost his memory.
"I had become more and more confused and then one morning, woke up and didn't even know why I was there," he recalled.
"I had to admit I needed help, but this is what a lot of people miss out, trying to keep on as normal. It was a time when PTSD was arriving as Royal Marines started returning from Afghanistan, and it was as if everyone was wondering 'how do we manage this?'"
Jamie's health deteriorated and he describes his symptoms as typical of PTSD – heightened anxiety, sleeplessness, constant fear of what he went through in the war zone happening again, chronic fatigue, confusion and memory loss and eventually a deep depression making him reclusive and withdrawn.
Jamie describes the approach to his recovery over the next five years in the corps as confused and disjointed and astonishingly inadequate. Initially taken off the course and seeing a psychiatric professional, he remained at CTC while confusion ensued over what job he could and should do.
Despite being so ill, some months later he managed to complete the course and was promoted to sergeant.
But as the months and years progressed and without proper support, Jamie only became more ill, at one point packing his bags and telling Karen he was going off for a while on his own. She managed to stop him.
During this time Jamie was also told he would have to take the place of his friend who had died back out in Afghanistan.
"I never used to understand how people ended up homeless or suicidal," he said. "But I do now, you become so insular, and time-wise, you don't look back or forwards, just live in the moment, it's a surreal experience.
"Depression was something new to me, it's something heavy, it can take you to the bottom really quickly to the point where you're inside this bubble and you don't care what happens.
Then Jamie made an attempt on his life.
"I describe it as meeting the devil, who was leading me into this blackness and saying 'everything will be easy if you come with me'," he said. "But then something very powerful and bright was suddenly there, and is what I now describe as meeting God, who fought off this blackness.
"Depression is an injury, not a mental disorder, that's what I think is important for people to realise."
Families, he said, play an important role in recognising a change has occurred in a loved one. Because of his willingness to talk about what was happening to him, others would seek him out and ask him for his help and advice. Jamie was posted to 30 Commando and then for the last year of his service to Hasler Company.
He was based at home in Exmouth for the majority of it after he was told "go home and let your wife deal with it". It was only when, nine months later, Karen rang up, stuck at work without a car to get home informing them that her husband was suicidal again, that someone visited. And their GP in Exmouth told them they didn't know what to do with them so to go and find a charity.
He was discharged in November of 2012, when he told them the psychiatric support, which involved appointments every fortnight during which he was asked to recall some of his most difficult memories, was making him feel worse, not better.
Impulsively, he'd ordered a guitar from Afghanistan, having never been musical before. It arrived when he got home.
He started learning how to play it when he became really ill, taught by a friend.
"I'd never had a hobby before, and suddenly I did, and I loved it," he said. "I was later told by a psychiatrist that stress comes from the same part of the brain as creativity. Someone said to me, that's your rock to recovery."
Jamie and good friend former Special Boat Service member, Jason Fox, came up with a process for recovery with the acronym, STAR: Stop, Talk, Act and Refocus.
In the summer of last year, the Facebook page was set up and the now team of six, receives about three of four messages a week from people seeking advice. The group signposts to charities such as Save Our Soldiers, which received 30 referrals in a year and said they saved the lives of at least 14.
Jamie goes down to Hasler each week where Rock to Recovery hosts a guitar group with the injured Marines.
"What we're doing is using music to raise awareness of our campaign," he said.
There is also a fundraising side to the initiative, although a bank account is yet to be formerly set up, funds raised will go towards hosting events and for a "change management" programme, helping with care and career coaching.
The group has launched a Christmas campaign called Think Veteran, highlighting that for many people Christmas can be a difficult time.
"The campaign is about outreach," Jamie said. "If you know a veteran or someone serving, to reach out to them this Christmas, a text, or invite them for a drink – it might just make the difference.
