Australia veterans face same problems after combat and PTSD

Veterans accuse Department of Veterans Affairs of being more interested in saving money than lives
Special investigation by defence correspondent Michael Brissenden
ABC News Australia
June 6, 2013

Some veterans have accused the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) of deliberate intransigence and of being more interested in saving money than in saving lives.

A leading psychiatrist has backed the claims, and says the DVA does appear to be reticent to make money available for treatment, and that in some cases the bureaucratic hurdles put up and the time it takes to get help is making the situation worse.

The number of young veterans presenting with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) continues to rise at an alarming rate and many say they are finding it difficult to get the help they need.

Suicide is now thought to be more deadly for veterans than the wars they served in.

At first glance Suzanne Baker does not look like a troubled ex-soldier. She has a broad, warm smile and she likes to talk. But it is a nervous facade.

Underneath, Suzanne is a tangle of anxiety - wound tight by a constant lack of sleep, anti-psychotic medication and her years of fighting with the DVA.

Suzanne is one of thousands of veterans of our most recent wars that have returned home to fight an even bigger personal battle with PTSD.

She is just the start of what retired Major General John Cantwell described to a parliamentary inquiry recently as "a large wave of sadness coming our way".

Maj Gen Cantwell wondered aloud whether DVA and Defence were ready for this wave. All the evidence so far is they are not.
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