Canadian soldiers reluctant to seek help with PTSD

Study suggests Canadian soldiers reluctant to get help for mental problems
15 hours ago

MONTREAL - Even before Canadian troops faced the day-to-day stress of combat in Afghanistan, soldiers were reluctant to seek help for mental problems, a newly released study says.

The survey of 1,220 soldiers with mental disorders and problems like alcoholism indicated that four out of six did not seek treatment, citing a variety of reasons.

Some believed the condition was temporary while others said they distrusted military management or the military health service.

It was not clear if soldiers didn't trust the quality of care or feared the impact that treatment for a mental disorder would have on their career, said Deniz Fikretoglu, the study's lead author and an expert in post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I think the main interest in a study like this right now is, 'Does this apply to the people coming back from Afghanistan?"' she said, acknowledging the results have an unknown application to Afghanistan veterans.

Fikretoglu said that since the survey was completed in 2002, the military has ramped up post-deployment screening programs and encouraged soldiers to get help.
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barriers to help

MONTREAL, Feb. 13 /CNW Telbec/ - Mental disorders ranging from depression
to alcoholism need to be de-stigmatized among military personnel to encourage
troops to seek support when needed, according to a national investigation
published in the February edition of the research journal, Medical Care. The
study was nationally representative, since 8,441 Canadian soldiers were
surveyed from a total of about 57,000 full time military and
24,000 reservists.

As the first national epidemiological survey to examine the mental health
of active military over a 12-month period, the study was completed by
researchers from the Douglas Mental Health University Institute affiliated
with McGill University, the Université de Montréal, Dalhousie University and
the University of Prince Edward Island. The team used data compiled by
Statistics Canada, based on a questionnaire designed by the Canadian
Department of Defence.
To read the full press release, please consult
http://nouvelles.umontreal.ca/content/view/976/125/.