National Defence committee  The programs may be there, but they are so hard to access, especially living in Newfoundland. We have so many outports. Some of those ports don't even have Internet, and when you try to get a hold of somebody to get information, you get, “Well, google it”, or, “It's www...”, or

National Defence committee  Definitely. In 2002 I tried to start a website here, Mothers of the Military, just to get parents...because I was asking questions and couldn't get answers. But it just went by the wayside. It wasn't until 2006 that Canada actually woke up and said, hey, we have a military, we a

National Defence committee  Actually, I brought up PTSD before my daughter returned home from Afghanistan on her second tour, just so other parents would be informed. I had already started reading up on it, because I thought I had to arm myself, in case; there was nowhere else. I don't think the MFRC is

National Defence committee  Occupational stress injury support system. There's one for families and there is one for soldiers. They are separate. We meet and we talk about things. The MFRC is for family, but it's for the everyday goings-on of the family. I actually had several issues when my daughter depl

National Defence committee  Oh, yes. The only thing I'd like to add to that is that when my daughter—and I can only speak about my daughter—started showing signs or symptoms, she saw the psychiatrist and was given medication. Now, in their wisdom, her unit and the base thought it was best to give her this

National Defence committee  This was before diagnosis. I thought since they had been dealing with PTSD on this base and they'd seen it.... They didn't just write down “diagnosed” on a piece of paper. They gave her drugs for it. If they gave her drugs for it, then I'd say they knew it was PTSD. They were se

National Defence committee  I think every soldier would have their own journey, and some journeys would be blacker than others. Yes, I totally agree that it's something that should be done during basic training. It should start then, at basic training. It shouldn't be just before they go. That's a little t

National Defence committee  Two tours to Afghanistan. One in 2006 and then just recently in 2011.

National Defence committee  She's a medic, yes.

National Defence committee  As I said, we're into it a very short period of time; it hasn't been a full year. She was diagnosed in February, after her first attempt. She had been seen. Hers is more anger. She feels betrayed. It's different. There is drinking, absolutely, which is totally out of character

National Defence committee  Is it the same question? Okay. As I said, we're newly into this. It's only been a year, and it's only six months since it became relevant to us what was happening with her. She is being treated by the psychiatrist on the base at Borden; she sees him once a week on Thursdays. S

National Defence committee  Thank you. My name is Heather Allison. I'm from Newfoundland, and I'm a very proud mom of a soldier. I'm not so proud a Canadian right now, to be quite honest. This is my soldier, my daughter. I'll pass this photo around, because I want to put a face to her. I am just new at