Globe report reveals startling problem with veterans affairs

A recent investigative report by the Globe and Mail reveals a startling problem with Veterans Affairs Canada: namely, that they still treat mental illness like it’s not an emergency. This same Globe report mentioned that at least 62 veterans have taken their lives after returning from Afghanistan. That’s 62 people who died from the war, who weren’t counted as casualties because their trauma spanned beyond the borders of where the battle took place. So let’s take a look at Veterans Affairs Canada, and see what they’re doing to help those who served battle their mental illness.

A report was released by the department of Veterans Affairs in 2015 that detailed their 5-year plan for addressing mental illness and disability. According to this report, of their 199,154 clients, 19,641 are receiving benefits for a psychiatric disability. That’s 9% of veterans’ affairs clients who are receiving benefits. The report neglects to mention the amount of people making claims for psychiatric disabilities, or what the criteria is to be considered someone with a psychiatric disability.

They acknowledge there is a problem, and are looking to fix it.

Now, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. The report seems to show a genuine commitment to improving mental wellness for those who’ve returned from serving in the military. They have all these great plans to partner with organizations such as the Canadian Mental Health Commission and the Department of National Defence. They’re looking into different therapies such as service dogs for PTSD and equine therapy. They acknowledge there is a problem, and are looking to fix it.

Here lies one of the problems: the report does not focus on how people are being assessed for mental illness. Psychiatric disabilities are invisible, and require special consideration and attention to be assessed properly.

Now we have the other problem: they don’t mention anything about timeliness in terms of receiving benefits. This brings us back to the Globe report, which shows, in fact, that there isn’t much timeliness at all. They state that it can take up to 123 days (4 months!) to process a claim. That’s either four months of sitting around without treatment, or four months paying out of pocket for costly therapy that veterans need.

Can we fault Veterans Affairs for the long wait time? Realistically, each provincial health care department should be covering needed therapy for everyone. But for people who have experienced serious trauma from wars that our government sends them to, you would think there would be a bit more hastiness to support them upon their return.

Trev Bungay, Co-Owner and Vice-President of Trauma Healing Centre, served in 7 international tours before he retired from the military while suffering from PTSD. His organization uses different therapies such as counseling, group therapy, massage therapy, and diet to work with veterans and first responders to tackle their mental illnesses. He finds Veterans Affairs Canada has a lot of work to do to really make a difference.

“They offer very little help to soldiers and make it difficult for them to get the services and entitlements they deserve,” Bungay said. “I thought we were on the up and up when I started [Trauma Healing Centre] and now I see them more as a problem then someone that helps.”

So how did the division of the government that is supposed to be helping veterans become so apathetic to a serious problem? According to Bungay, it’s the way they’ve always been.

“I don’t think this will change with VAC as all they care about is money. [They’re] stuck with the legion in its old way, old boys club and I don’t see them having any future.”

Just because it isn’t visible, doesn’t mean it isn’t real.

The department has an entire advisory group that makes up of people from all the right organizations, both government and non-governmental. Members are from everywhere from the Canadian Psychological Association to Mood Disorders Society of Canada. There are people from Canadian Veterans Advocacy and Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones. They have such great representation to work on ways of caring for those in need, and yet seem to lack so much in the sense of urgency.

It’s time for Veterans Affairs Canada to look beyond ways of treating mental illness, to see that one of the biggest problems is that these sicknesses are emergency situations the same way a bullet wound on the battlefield is. Just because it isn’t visible, doesn’t mean it isn’t real, serious, and most importantly: urgent.