Canadian soldiers waiting six months for help with PTSD

Soldiers with PTSD waiting up to 6 months for help
Documents obtained by CBC News show long delays for access to specialized military PTSD program
CBC News
Posted: Aug 01, 2014

For many soldiers, admitting they need help is the first, and hardest step, retired reservist Kurt Grant told CBC News.
(Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP)

Canadian soldiers diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder have waited up to six months for assessments and treatment, CBC News has learned.

The wait times are for access to a special operational stress and trauma treatment program at seven locations across the country.

Figures for 2013 obtained by CBC News show that, for example, Ottawa-based soldiers in need of a psychiatric appointment had to wait up to four months.

Getting into the specialized program took another three weeks.

In Halifax, soldiers waited almost six months in some cases for access to the program.

Reservist Kurt Grant told CBC News that those wait times can be dangerous.

"People have committed suicide during the wait periods. And people as a result of the wait periods have decided to change their minds," he said.

Grant, a longtime professional soldier who served with the Canadian Forces in Croatia, said it took years to realize he suffered from PTSD.

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