Afghanistan stress drives military families to seek help

Great article that shows how the stress of deployments adds to the stress on families and the legacy of PTSD

Afghanistan stress drives military families to seek help
Apr 19, 2009 02:41 PM
Sue Bailey
Alison Auld
THE CANADIAN PRESS

CFB Petawawa– The stress of multiple tours in Afghanistan is showing, as military families on this sprawling base and across Canada seek help in growing numbers.

At the Phoenix Centre for Children and Families in nearby Pembroke, Ont., the military caseload has soared to 71 families – up from 12 before the deadly Kandahar mission began more than three years ago. Another 26 are on a waiting list.

They're grappling with issues ranging from anxiety-driven child behaviours like bed wetting and aggression, to domestic violence, depression and marital breakdown.

Petawawa is an epicentre of reverberating effects from repeated exposure to an always tense and sometimes horrific war zone. Thirty-eight soldiers of the 117 Canadian troops killed in Afghanistan since 2002 were based here.

Soldiers are trained for up to a year for tours they voluntarily accept. Many are heavily decorated veterans of missions in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo and the Golan Heights.

But Afghanistan – particularly the volatile South where Canadians have been punching over their NATO weight since 2006 – is different. It involves dodging massive roadside bombs while taking fire from an enemy that is as ghost-like as it is resilient.

"There has always been a risk attached to deployments," said Pam Sampson, whose husband Warrant Officer Brian Sampson has six tours under his belt in hot zones around the world. He heads to Kandahar in September.

"This one is different because I am scared," she said. ``Before, I was worried about how I was going to manage on my own, and it was difficult not seeing him for six months. Whereas this time, I'm scared. You know, I'm scared that he's not going to come home alive."
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http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/620970