No, ma'am, it doesn't work that way. I would say probably 60% of the soldiers who come home have no visible effects of PTSD. Of the 40% who are left, I would say probably 20% show visible signs, and after a couple of years the other 20% will kick in.
It took me roughly 10 to 15 years before I started seeing things from a different perspective, and then I thought I was the one at fault. I started having nightmares, which have never ceased: I'm on guard duty in the middle of the night, with nothing to guard, basically, just patrolling around the areas.
The first step for a soldier returning home to Canada is that they should be observed. You cannot take everybody in and say, “Are you suffering from PTSD?”
What is PTSD? Are you going to explain to the soldier what PTSD is? Are you going to say, “Are you having nightmares?” No. Are you going to say, “Are you having flashbacks?” No.
What do you do with him then? Do you pat him on the back and say, “Thank you, carry on--next, please”?