Returning soldiers face emotional challenges

give the troops the help they need, do it quick and do it until they are good to go, lets not emulate the americans and let our boys and girls who have sacrificed to continue their sacrifice when they get home.

and welcome home troops job well done!

That's no news. Look at the high number of suicides among soldiers, and you will know that it is not easy for them to deal with. Not the fact they were there, and what they have seen, but also the coming back to "normal life".

I have seen one of my best friends change from a 19 year old happy go lucky kind of guy to a wreck that had a huge issue with coping when he came back from Srebrenica...

My son was injured when the vehicule he was in was hit by an IED explosion in which 2 men died.

A few days later, he was asked to write a text describing what he remembered of the attack and what emotions and thoughts went though his head. He sent me a copy of this text. This was the most difficult and disturbing thing I've ever read.

His physical injuries have mostly healed after almost 9 months although he still has back pains. I'm sure that emotionally, he still has some work to do.

We can't imagine what our soldiers go through there. Hopefully, they get all the support they need in Afghanistan and when they come back... from the CF, friends and family.

You want to help our soldiers, don't send them to fight futile wars. The WW2 vets were treated as heroes. Many still had problems adjusting to civilian life (the Hell's Angels were one result) but at least they returned to a country that welcomed them and showed their appreciation. No such luck for Vietnam vets, and no such luck for Astan either. At least for Canadian troops they volunteered to be there, so they shouldn't get all bitter about how Canada made them go.

Yeah well that's a shit attitude andy. Remember when our boys came home from Bosnia?
Several of them came down with mysterious illnesses that were eventually linked to them being located in an area with several bauxite mines. Bauxite is the primary ore used to make aluminum. It is also fairly toxic when subjected to prolonged exposure.
Some soldiers were going blind, others were suffering from damage to their CNS.
The minister of defence at the time was actually trying his damndest to get help for these soldiers. Chretien relieved him of his portfolio.
I can only hope Federal Conservatives will treat this current crop of returning veterans with a LOT more compassion than the Liberals showed 'em after Bosnia.
Oh, and umm, those peacekeepers in Bosnia were volunteers too.

I'm not sure what attitude you're referring to. This article is about emotional challenges. I hope that our govt gives them all the support they can, but ultimately war is hell. One form of support might be allowing eager young soldiers to talk to people who've become emotionally crippled by their experience, but then I would guess that both those young soldiers and their commanders probably still discount those victims as being weak, and it can't happen to them. Look at all the macho posturing in the empathy spray topic for instance. Still, maybe they'd go into the deal with eyes open. And many seem to be going because its good for their career - civilians also experience emotional problems when they make sacrifices for their career, that's just how it is.

Maybe I misinterpreted what you were saying, if so, I apologize. I merely was trying to point out that this country hasn't really had a very good track record when it comes to looking after our disabled veterans, be they combatants or peacekeepers. Especially in more recent years. It's bad enough when some of the citizenry looks down on you for being a soldier, but when your gov't turns its back on you after you've served your purpose and are no longer useful to the military and in fact, are now a "burden" because of injury or disability, it's a bloody crime.

We don't have a good record of helping with emotional problems, and look down on civilians who have them too. Psych services should be part of Medicare, same as dental. Often it's the same people who are all hard ass about civilians being self-reliant then want special treatment for soldiers. We should treat all people well and help them get along - in the end it will save us money. Loggers, which I know something about, also get injured a lot and don't always get help. The attitude used to be "If we kill a chokerman today (low man on the totem pole) we can get a new one from town tomorrow." Lots of workers are exposed to toxic chemicals at work and get no recompense either. We pretty well discard anybody in this society who for whatever reason can't look after themselves as well as others.

I don't look down on soldiers. I've always been proud of Canada's armed forces - that we had higher quality people than say the US. But I also don't bow down to them just because they are or were soldiers, they should still be open to criticism as anybody else in this country. Some seem to feel being a soldier puts them above that. Even somebody who died in Astan, if they had the attitude "this is better than a video game" (An American soldier's comment in Iraq, but I bet we have some of the same guys in our troops too.) well he's a dumbass, even if he does give his life.

In all fairness to those that work around toxic chemicals, they also have the choice AND the awareness of knowing what they are dealing with.
Hell, I didn't know (or else I forgot cuz I spent a lot of time in chemistry class pretty high) bauxite was that toxic until I heard about the soldiers returning from Bosnia. I doubt they were handed MSDS sheets on bauxite before being stuck there.

I'll certainly agree that psych services SHOULD be part of universal health care, and some were in Ontario before McFly decided to change that. The old "make us pay a separate health tax while reducing what services will be covered" trick.

Trust me, I also know about working with hazardous conditions. The business I owned required me by law to have an explosion proof building before I could even go into production of one of my products because of the volatility of some of the chemicals.
Chemical scrubbing breathers had to be worn at all times in the blending room, even with "hurricane" force ventilation systems.
There are certain expectations, understandings and workplace safety laws in the work place...generally speaking.
The military doesn't really have those assurances. IF the "bad guys" are playing dirty, who are the soldiers gonna complain to, that could actually do anything about it AND give a shit?
Considering that our fighting men and women give up certain freedoms that the rest of us take for granted, I don't really think it asking too much that they get the proper care they may need when they return from a mission, be it peace-keeping or combat.
That in no way should imply that I think they are better than I am or you are.
Then again, I could just be biased based on the LONG military history in my family.

Since at least Vietnam, we've had various mysterious diseases coming out of war, sometimes proven, sometimes not. So by now soldiers should be aware of that risk, and since they are volunteers, and then also volunteer to go to Astan, I'm not sure they have a better claim than a fireman or other civilian.

But none of that means they should not get proper care at home. As I said, same as any other civilian. If you make it about soldiers being special, then you're just creating a barrier between citizens that has no need to be there.

And I notice you keep bringing the discussion back to physical problems, when this topic is about emotional repercussions of war. And again, soldiers should receive all the services we have available to help them with that. As should all citizens. Kids who were burned with cigarettes by their parents, or were failure to thrive babies due to parental neglect, or just exposed to all the emotional toxicity that exists in many homes should get a helping hand as well if they founder as adults. Not be scorned for being weak. They didn't volunteer for their duty, they were actually drafted.

It's amazing to me how an expression of wanting what's right for all Canadians gets twisted back into somehow not supporting the soldiers. You're not torquing it a lot, but it does seem you want to kinda go there.

Well, I'm not trying to give that impression. But there are some out there with the attitude of, "they knew what they were getting into so too bad for them".
I'm not even intimating that you're one of them andy, don't get me wrong. And of course, I'm certainly not saying that they should get better or preferrential treatment.
Shortly after I met my previous wife, she had a total breakdown due to her recent divorce finalization (her choice btw). She got psych care up the wazoo. For the 1st 6 months she saw a psych weekly, had therapy (group and one on one) every day for 6 months and every other day for the next 6 months all at the hospital and all covered by OHIP.
Our returning soldiers that suffer from emotional issues and disorders aren't exactly getting that high quality of care as my ex did.

I do agree with you andy. If we're gonna have universal health care, then it should encompass ALL aspects of it and not just the physical, and everyone should have access to the best care available.
But, keep in mind that many people go untreated for emotional/mental disorders because they just won't go. You can't make a private citizen see a shrink or go for therapy unless THEY want to. The examples you give about kids that are abused or neglected are all too often real, but those kids won't go for help, even as adults, unless they finally get it that there's something not quite right with them. Until then, even if we had the BEST psych care on the planet, it won't do them one lick of good if they don't think anything is wrong with themselves.
The psych care is there and available in Canada and I believe that some levels of it are still covered. But even it was 100% covered, as long as there's a stigma that remains attached, there's gonna be a lot of people that won't be getting the help they need.

If soldiers aren't getting the care that civilians are getting, then that's not right, and should be remedied tout suite. Can't they access the civilian system, same as everybody else?

Well I should clarify that it's my general impression they don't based on things I've heard over time. Some from the Ministry of Defense itself.
That's not to say some of the problem as far as the military goes could have to do with soldiers doing their best to hide it so they don't appear "weak", very similar to what civilians do, especially males. in an all volunteer military.
I'll admit, my impression could be way off, and it just might well be that those that actually WANT the help are getting it.

I'd like to think that while decompressing in Cyprus (or wherever else they may use), returning soldiers that exhibit signs of emotional trauma have a group therapy sort of thing where they can talk with others that are coming back as well, so everybody has the chance to talk to someone that's actually been in the same or similar situation. Those that want to attend voluntarily could do so as well. It may or may not help provide a different perspective for someone, but at least getting them to talk about it would be a good start in the right direction.
But even for civilians, if yer not comfortable with yer therapist or psych, or think yer just fine/don't take it seriously, it's not going to do much good.

We should also consider the reservists who've done tours. The support network is not the same for the Militia guys.