One in six members of the Canadian armed forces dealing with mental or alcohol disorders
Posted Aug 11, 2014 10:04 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The results of a new survey shows a rise in the number of Canadian men and women in the armed forces suffering with mental health issues.
In a newly released report, Statistics Canada said around one-sixth of armed forces members showed symptoms of one of six mental or alcohol disorders.
Vincent Dale with Statistics Canada said they surveyed members of the forces at their bases to see if they suffered from one of six different disorders.
The study’s work is not complete, in the coming months researchers will try to see the rate of these disorders and the effectiveness of the health system offered to them.
“To look for example at the relationship between whether or not people have these conditions and whether they’ve been deployed in Afghanistan and their use of their healthcare services to see if those services are adequate,” said Dale.
The study is similar to one issued before Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan.
“Depression is more or less unchanged since 2002, whereas Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has increased from about 2.5 per cent to 5.3 per cent and similarly panic disorder has increased over those 11 years” Dale noted.
