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EDITORIAL: Understanding PTSD

Editor's note: The weekly editorial represents the official opinion of the newspaper. PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder, has always affected people, but we are just starting to understand what it really is.
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Editor's note: The weekly editorial represents the official opinion of the newspaper.

PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder, has always affected people, but we are just starting to understand what it really is.

The ancients Greeks recognized the symptoms thousands of years ago – the sudden feeling of the need to flee home. The need to flee from your own thoughts.

In the First World War it was called “shell shock. Then it was labelled “war neurosis” in the Second World War and “combat stress reaction” in the Vietnam War.

At the time, PTSD was still barely understood and often seen as a character flaw – the inability to handle harsh conditions. Most veterans never talked about the “hidden sickness.”

It wasn’t until the 1970s that doctors and the military started to study PTSD. Today we know a lot more, and attempts have been made to help soldiers with PTSD, but there’s still much more work to be done.

In April, the federal government committed $147 million over six years to expand the Veteran Family Program to help veterans who retired due to physical or mental health challenges. They can access mental health services from 32 Military Family Resource Centres across Canada, although there isn’t a centre in Squamish.

During Squamish’s last several Remembrance Day ceremonies, speeches have acknowledged the PTSD many soldiers faced when returning home.

It estimated up to 10 per cent of war-zone veterans got PTSD, according to Veterans Affairs Canada. All veterans, however, come home with tough memories of the war they fought. It not only affects veterans, but also others, including police officers, firefighters and paramedics. It can impact anyone who goes through an intensely traumatic event.

Last month, four Squamish veterans gathered for a luncheon in honour of veterans who were celebrating major milestones.

Dubbed “The Squamish Four,” Ted Arsenault and Ted Gregoire turned 100 years old this year, while James Crombie and Oscar Runzer turned 95 years old.

All four served in the Second World War and have jarring stories of what happened in combat. The things they saw are often unimaginable to the rest of us. We all hope to never personally experience it. 

It’s great to see that Squamish had a large turnout to its Remembrance Day on Sunday. We outgrew Brennan Park a couple years ago, and now a large crowd gathers at the cenotaph downtown.

Before the service, people waiting discussed PTSD and how it impacted millions of soldiers, probably many from Squamish.

While we honour our veterans, let’s continue to remember that their sacrifices don’t stop when they leave the battlefield.  

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