For those of you...and I'm sorry I didn't bring a copy of it with me, the latest Chief of Military Personnel newsletter that was put out by Major-General Dave Millar has an article in it entitled “The Mental Health Iceberg”. I was the author of that article for Dave Millar.
The premise is that by the time you see the issues of mental health rearing themselves in the workplace, the iceberg is huge at home. The entire support system that the military is trying to build in the military family resource centres, the military family support centres, and whatnot, our spouses and our families deal with things that just aren't there in the civilian world.
I had the opportunity today to spend some time with Colonel Russ Mann who oversees the military family resource centres on behalf of the military and in conversation this was actually a point that he and I were talking about. In the veterans community there need to be resources because when somebody is dealing with serious trauma in their family—physical trauma, mental health issues—it affects everybody. Nobody splashes around in a cesspool without somebody getting splattered. Those who get splattered are those closest to the cesspool. It's just that simple. Our families do need that support.
If Veterans Affairs were to take steps towards enhancing the programs, because there is a lot that our spouses wear.... I know that some of the benefits are transferable, for example, the educational benefits. I know of one gentleman who was severely injured with traumatic brain injury. He will never work again. His wife has gone back to school to gain a career and hopefully be able to enhance the family situation. That's brilliant.
I'm not sure if everybody is aware of what's available. In some cases it may need to be an educational process, an awareness process, but our families need that support just like we do because it is a team effort.