Post traumatic stress disorder: Is the Canadian military dealing with the issue?
'Toward the end she became helpless and desperate,' says husband of soldier who committed suicide
In the last few months, nine Canadian soldiers have killed themselves, raising questions as to whether Canada’s military is ill-equipped to deal with those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
CBC's Ioanna Roumeliotis interviewed Jason Lamont, a medic who served in some of the deadliest combat in Afghanistan and has been dealing with nightmares and flashbacks since his return
But he said the military did little to help.
“It was absolutely disgusting, it was terrible," Lamont said. "Nobody knew what to do and how to help. There was huge flaws and everyone kind of knew it.”
Roumeliotis also interviewed the husband of retired corporal Leona MacEachern who had been released involuntarily from the military. She fought her dismissal, taking it to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, which ruled in her favour. The military allowed her to return.
But the fight to restore her rank, pay and pension became bogged down in years of endless paperwork and appeals. It was only when Leona retired in defeat 13 years later that Veterans Affairs agreed to pay for a psychologist who diagnosed her with PTSD as a result of her protracted battle with the military.
She eventually took her own life, swerving her car into a tractor trailer.
“Toward the end she became helpless and desperate," her husband said.