Stigma around PTSD still exists despite ‘shock’

Stigma around PTSD still exists despite ‘shock’ around Ontario police officer’s death

Global News
By Dave Woodard and Don Mitchel 

Posted November 28, 2023

His death opened doors for his immediate family who used the episode to speak openly about his demons and reminded first responders they don’t stand alone in the stigma surrounding mental health.

A first responder from Alberta is making his way across Canada on foot. Now in Nova Scotia, he's hoping to encourage others suffering from PTSD to open up about their struggle. Shelley Steeves reports. – Jul 14, 2023

In a five-part series titled First Responders in Crisis, Global News is looking at some of the issues that continue to loom around mental health and first responders. We’ll explore what’s being done to help first responders and what has changed over the decade.

December will mark 10 years since a well-regarded Hamilton Police investigator took his own life inside Central Station, putting a spotlight on first responders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the job.

Family and friends of the late Staff-Sgt. Ian Matthews expressed surprise in the days following the Dec. 17, 2013, episode, including Const. Andrew Leng, who was a neighbour.

“He lived two doors down from me, and I watched his kids grow up with mine,” Leng recalled. “So I knew him as more than just a police officer, I knew him as a neighbour … as a person. When he took his life, yeah, it completely shocked me.”
learn more here

Song for First Responders PTSD Winner ECM

Powerful music video earns Kevin Davison first ECMA win

Kings County News
Ashley Thompson
Updated: 5 hours ago

Tribute to First Responders - Official Music Video by Kevin Davison

KENTVILLE - Kevin Davison’s gripping music video offering a glimpse into the harrowing jobs of first responders has earned the local country crooner his first ECMA win.

Davison was nearly in a state of disbelief as he walked up to the stage at the East Coast Music Awards ceremony in Halifax May 6 to collect the hardware reserved for Video of the Year winner. “I was totally shocked,” he said in a brief phone interview May 7.

“I literally didn’t even have anything written down.”

A paramedic and volunteer firefighter hailing from Kentville, Davison was nominated for the video for When Those Sirens Are Gone – an anthem for first responders that has been heard throughout the world.

The video, directed by David Pichette, earned Davison a nomination in a category contested by some of the best in the business: Heather Rankin, Ria Mae, Rose Cousins and Wordburglar.
read more here

Kevin Davison won his first East Coast Music Award May 6 as the successful nominee in the highly contested Video of the Year category.

Davison released a rough video of him performing "When Those Sirens Are Gone" on Facebook. What was meant as a message to his fellow colleagues that they were not alone in their struggles with PTSD, in just 3 months, has not only raised awareness but has caught the attention of hundreds of thousands on social media around the globe. 

Nova Scotia Afghanistan veteran--died broken

Former soldier who died with woman in N.S. was 'broken' from PTSD: friend
The Canadian Press
by Michael Tutton
March 23, 2018

SPRINGHILL, N.S. — A former Canadian soldier returned from multiple tours in Afghanistan psychologically “broken” and struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, friends and family said Friday after his body was found with the remains of a woman who had been living with him in a rural Nova Scotia home.

Marc J. Poulin is shown in a handout photo provided by his friend Jason Hill. A close friend of Poulin, a former soldier who died along with a woman living with him in rural Nova Scotia says he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after coming back from Afghanistan "broken."
THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Jason Hill

“...your demons were so loud that you couldn’t hear how much everyone was trying to help you and be there for you. I’m so sorry that you let them take over.” Kyle Taylor

Jason Hill of North Bay, Ont., said he grew up with Marc J. Poulin and that his childhood friend and former neighbour had told him after returning from three infantry tours in Afghanistan that he was traumatized by deaths and violence he witnessed overseas, which returned to him in nightmares.

Hill said the other person who died, Jennifer Lynne Semenec, was also from North Bay and had been living with Poulin for a relatively short period of time. He said they had moved to the Nova Scotia town together.

The RCMP said the bodies of the 42-year-old man and 45-year-old woman were recovered from the small house on a dead end street in Springhill following a “suspicious fire” at the residence Tuesday. Police have not released the causes of death, but say they are not looking for any suspects.

Hill said before Poulin served overseas he was constantly smiling and friendly, but by 2010 after his last tour of duty in Kandahar, Afghanistan, he was withdrawn and posted on social media about his trauma.

“He was openly sharing his struggles dealing with PTSD on Facebook and how the system wasn’t open to him,” recalled Hill, 42.

“We knew he came back broken.”
read more here