Martin was commissioned into the Army in 1999.  He was medically discharged in 2015 following his diagnosis of Complex PTSD in 2010, some three years after his return from Afghanistan.

During his admission in a German Psychiatric Hospital he was encouraged to paint as part of a holistic approach to his therapy.  He found a way to express creatively things he could not express in words.  He has continued to paint despite repeated further lengthy admissions to the Bethlem Royal Hospital (Bedlam) where he always adapted his room into a studio.