Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you so much for your service and coming here today and talking about suicide. It's an important issue. We have something in common with that. I practised medicine for 20 years and it is a problem in my profession. My medical school had three suicides in a 15-month period while I was a resident. I'm sensitive to professions where this happens.
One of the other things we have in common is that there's a stigma involved in seeking mental help. There's a place in hell for the person who said, “Physician heal thyself”. A lot of damage has been done by that attitude. Soldiers probably deal with that as well.
We do know that there's always a hesitancy to step forward, a stigma of being seen as weak, of not having what it takes. Do you think the stigma of PTSD has been reduced in the military since when you were serving?