National Defence committee  We did not have access to that information.

National Defence committee  The problem is that it has a negative effect. If supervisors have access to a person's medical and psychological files, this has a negative effect to the extent that people might prefer to keep their problems to themselves, and the more they do that, the more likely it is that they eventually become ticking time bombs.

National Defence committee  It was 57%.

National Defence committee  Operational stress injury is not a diagnosis.

National Defence committee  In psychiatric terms, operational stress injury is not a diagnosis. Operational stress injury is an umbrella term that refers to a set of psychiatric conditions including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other disorders that can be triggered by intense or extreme stress experienced during a mission.

National Defence committee  In our study, and in the other studies that were published, we typically find that women report more mental health problems than men do. The question then is whether women are more vulnerable or whether they are more inclined to acknowledge and discuss their mental health problems.

National Defence committee  You want to know if there is a pattern to the disorders, for instance if post-traumatic stress disorder comes before depression. About 90% of those who suffer from chronic post-traumatic stress disorder also fall into deep depression. Regarding the other disorders, I cannot answer your question.

National Defence committee  Currently, the most effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and for most mental problems is psychotherapy, followed by drugs. Both treatments are more or less equally effective. We observe that among psychotherapy patients, positive results generally last longer. In many cases, in fact, the most widely used psychotherapeutic approach is the cognitive-behavioural approach.

National Defence committee  Yes. Those cases may be a bit more complicated. Nonetheless, health professionals often encounter cases of this kind, which they treat as well as the others.

National Defence committee  As I mentioned, the main obstacles to treatment were a lack of confidence in the authorities, the fact that mental health problems are not recognized by members of the Canadian Forces and the desire to solve the problem on one's own. I spoke of the problem of confidentiality and the stigmatization of mental illness.

National Defence committee  Studies have already been published on the basis of this survey. I would not be surprised if a part of the work is already done. For example, we know that women report more mental problems than men do but, this is probably also the case for younger individuals. A certain amount of the data that was published is not necessarily found in this study.

National Defence committee  I do not know how to answer your question. We tried to compare data obtained from the general population. Sometimes studies have been carried out on people in specific occupations, but it is always difficult to determine whether or not these studies are representative. Moreover, whether members of the target group have the same social and demographic profile also needs to be taken into consideration.

National Defence committee  We've become quite good at diagnosing mental problems. The diagnostic tools employed are fairly standard today.

National Defence committee  These are persons who suffered mental problems during the previous year.

National Defence committee  I think that decompression is a good thing for everyone, including reservists.