Give them help

It’s a classic military Catch-22. Soldiers who need mental-health care dare not seek the help they need for fear they’ll be forced out of the military because they’ll be deemed unfit for active duty.

The fallout? A new study finds that 2,250 former soldiers use homeless shelters across Canada on a regular basis. They cite alcoholism, drug addiction and mental-health issues as the reasons they are homeless.

It’s got to stop. Soldiers who need mental-health care must feel free to seek it while they are still enlisted without fear of losing their jobs. And as the Star has previously argued, once they’ve sought help, they should be reintegrated to active duty or found meaningful employment elsewhere in the Forces. If they are found mentally unfit for duty under the “universality of service” policy, they should be retrained and placed in civilian jobs or given substantial financial support.

In short, the Canadian Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs must do a better job of taking care of those who put their lives on the line for Canada.

The need for help is great. A 2013 report found that one in three soldiers involved in combat operations risks suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression during his or her lifetime. Other studies have found that men in the military report depression at double the rate of the rest of the population while the risk of suicide is about 11⁄ times higher.

2 Indeed, the study from Employment and Service Canada estimates the number of former soldiers who are homeless is higher than indicated since the report did not count vets who don’t use shelters.

Even with that limitation, it found that 16 per cent of female ex-soldiers reported multiple stints of homelessness, compared with just 6 per cent of non-veteran women.

The study also found the average age of homeless veterans was 52, compared with 37 in the general population. That figure may reflect the age of veterans who served in dangerous and devastating peacekeeping operations in the Balkans in the early 1990s, a period when the military barely acknowledged PTSD, never mind dealt with it.

In the end, Canada must take care of its soldiers and vets. The forces can start by ensuring enlisted soldiers get the mental health care they need without fear of losing their jobs. And Veterans Affairs must help those who are already out of the military — especially the homeless.