Posts Tagged ‘Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder’

Just inside the door to Senator Roméo Dallaire’s Parliament Hill office is a large colour photograph showing several children on a grassy hill in Rwanda. Some of the kids in the 2004 photo are barely tall enough to be seen over the grass, but it is clear MOST were born well after the 1994 civil war and genocide that left hundreds of thousands dead and millions more, including Dallaire, deeply scarred.

Canada has always had wounded soldiers returning home from distant conflicts. More recently—with the mission in Afghanistan—the public has become accustomed to seeing veterans with missing limbs or in wheelchairs. While much has been done to provide followup care for these veterans, more must be done, and done soon. In her most recent report, the Interim Ombudsman for the Department of National Defence, Mary McFadyen, states very clearly that this shortcoming continues to apply to those who are returning with wounds we do not see, operational stress injuries (Ombudsman Critical Of Progress With Stress Injuries). Her report, titled A Long Road [...]