How a former traffic cop diagnosed with PTSD became a top YouTuber, bestselling author and TV star

After almost 20 years in the police force Ben Pearson was diagnosed with severe complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety.

He said: “This was due to the amount of child fatal collisions I attended, plus the loss of my mother and father in quick succession.

“I thought I was immune to it all but at the end of the day we are all humans behind the uniform.”

Father-of-two Ben, who lives in Bingley, thought he had become immune to two decades of attending road traffic accidents but all the trauma came to a head when he had to turn off his own mother’s ventilator following her battle with illnesses.

Ben said: “The day after my mum’s funeral I was back at work dealing with the fatality of a small child. Everything started to catch up with me.

“Shortly after I was involved in a simple collision and I lost it. I didn’t know who I was or what I was doing.”

Ben was eventually signed off from the police after being diagnosed with complex PTSD.

“I felt empty and broken,” he said, “but with the right support I started to pick up the pieces and had intensive therapy.”

It was his therapist who encouraged him to start writing about it.

While Ben had become content with earning money washing cars, when he showed what he’d written to his best friend’s Dad who is an author he encouraged him to try and get a book published.

This led to two amazon bestselling books, with a third on the way.

“Writing unlocked something inside of me, I never knew I had so much to write about,” said Ben.

“So the third part is the most recent part of my journey where I went from working in the police force to becoming an author and now a TV pundit and YouTuber.”

Ben has now built a following of nearly 80,000 subscribers on YouTube with more than eight million views alongside regular appearances on TV.

He uses his profile to campaign for better awareness of PTSD and men’s mental health as well as delivering lectures to police forces across the country.