PTSD tearing up armed forces base, soldiers, families say in Canada too

PTSD tearing up armed forces base, soldiers, families say
5:55 pm, May 18th, 2012
TIM BAINES
QMI AGENCY

CFB PETAWAWA - A sleepy, sprawling armed forces base is being ripped apart by drugs, alcohol and suicides. Soldiers, still haunted by the horrors of war, are being left high and dry - leading to suggestions the military isn't doing enough to combat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

At CFB Petawawa, with its population base of 14,000 (5,400 of them military) there is no base addictions counsellor and the psychologist is leaving.

They're undermanned and overwhelmed. One psychiatrist is on maternity leave, the other works part-time.

The satellite mental health clinic in Ottawa will close July 1. As many as 60 soldiers are being treated there. The clinic's psychologists will commute to Petawawa, but the visits will be infrequent. There is a fear that some soldiers, still suffering from PTSD, are being sent back overseas, untreated.

"There are medical doctors here that don't believe PTSD exists," said a soldier, who can't be named. "And there are some who are crossing the line who are almost treating mental health issues. They are practising outside their field. Medical doctors don't know anything about mental health."

Still affected by his time in Afghanistan, the soldier keeps two swords and a knife in his bedroom.

"The current state of Warrior Support Services is deplorable and the military should be ashamed of how they are letting down those who have risked their lives," said Jade (not her real name), a soldier's wife.

Soldiers are being told to man up, discouraged from following up on any after-affects of seeing bodies shredded by bombs, the threat of being shot in the head by a terrorist and the haunting sounds of missiles and gunfire. They're told to forget the smell of death that surrounded them in their tour of duty.

Brittney Howell, a soldier's wife, is distressed.

"A lot of guys on the base have committed suicide and it gets swept under the carpet. In April, there were three suicides in one week. Nobody knows," she said.
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