At least 2,250 of Canada’s veterans are homeless due to alcoholism, drugs and mental
- Thread starter B00Mer
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I would expect the numbers for the ex military to have higher incidense of symtoms than the civilian cohort.
Oh no no no, DB. cannuck is always right when he comments on a thread, because he doesn't comment on anything that he isn't an expert in. If he says it's the vet's fault, then it's the vet's fault and no one elses.
If you are suggesting I said otherwise, you are mistaken. The point is that homelessness is almost entirely caused by substance abuse and mental illness. It is also impossible to help somebody that is unwilling to help themselves until it is, for all intents and purposes, too late.
So does that mean that harper is not responsible for all the homeless vets since 1945?
Actually I'm not. I'm simply trying to contribute to the conversation. The military career is stressful even in the absence of conflict.
Military substance abuse is well studied.
Good question. Could be a lot of reasons (it could even be no reason, as trying to get accurate numbers are difficult). PTSD, military culture are two that stand out. PTSD probably isnt the only reason as there doesn't seem to be a big problem with homeless police, nurses or volunteer firefighters. Anyways, my point is that regardless of whether a homeless person is a veteran of the military or a car salesman, we can't do much for people that aren't willing to help themselves.
The military is not the only stressful career.
Gerryh, where did he say it's the vet's fault?
He blamed it on addictions. As for forcing them to seek help, we probably don't need to do that. All we really need to do is educate them.
I can speak of my own experience with PTSD and addictions.
I was aware of my addictive personality at the age of twelve. On Christmas, my father gave me wine to drink. After a few sips, I started to feel the urge to drink more. My father told me to slow down and I obeyed, but the feeling of restraining myself while consuming alcohol was uncomfortable, like a cruel tease.
At least I was smart enough to recognize this as not healthy, and so decided to go teetotaller.
Once in the military though, where we all lived together, most drank, and most expected the others to drink, I'd succombed and spent most weekends drunk until I'd left the military.
Luckily for me, I was able to quit on my own without help, but after my first experience of how peer pressure works (I'd never experienced it in school, oddly enough, perhaps because there we get to choose our friends), I'd found myself preferring teetotaller friends to others. Thinking on it. I could imagine many alcoholics and gamblers being attracted to the Muslim, Bahá'í, or similar communities for similar reasons.
Of course addiction is rarely the problem, but merely a symptom of other underlying problems, and so to deal with the addiction without dealing with the underlying problems will tend towards addiction switching, just shifting, sometimes unawares, from one compulsive behaviour to another. It doesn't have to be a chemical addiction either. Many process addictions exist, to food, gambling, the internet, computer games, even sex.
In my case, I'd read about alcoholism before, and so just being aware of its existence, being able to name it, helped me break the habit.
We could imagine an alcoholic who'd never heard of the term. He couldn't even name the addiction, let alone find help for it.
How many alcoholics know of AA? How many drug addicts have heard of NA? How many gamblers have heard of Gamblers Anonymous? How many gaming addicts have heard of Internet and Gamers Anonymous? How many sex addicts have heard of SAA? This is to mention only some of the help out there. We could say they could just look it up, but some addicts, unable to even name their addiction, might falsely believe that they are the only one with this problem and that it's their responsibility to deal with it on their own. With that in mind, they can't even conceive that help exists, so why would they go looking for what they can't even imagine exists? Sex addiction is a case in point. How many sex addicts have even heard of the term sex addiction, let alone SAA? Without even being able to name the addiction, how do they even begin to imagine that a network of people who could help exists?
Generally speaking, once a person can identify the addiction and is made aware of the available help, he'll quickly be well on his way to recovery.
Unfortunately, not much of this help is advertized. As an example, we could ask ourselves whether alcoholic beverage bottles should be required to provide AA's website on them. Should lottery tickets be required to print a website and other contact information to obtain help for gambling addiction? Should Internet search sites like Google.com be required to advertise screen-blocking apps for internet and gaming addicts? Should Internet service providers be required to make pornography sites opt-in only? Should sex workers be prohibited from advertising on websites that do not also advertize information on crisis help lines, STD information, government-funded trades and professional education programmes, addiction information not only for sex addiction, but also alcohol, narcotics, gambling, and other addictions that could lead to prostitution for money, and mental health services?
I don't know the answer to the above questions, but I do believe that the first obstacle to an addict seeking help is his inability to name the addiction; and that his second obstacle is his knowlwdge of where he can find help.
The other problem has to do with stigma, the third obstacle. Even if the alcoholic, gambler, etc. is aware he has a problem, he might be too ashamed to admit it to anyone, and how does he subtly ask for help without raising suspicions about himself? The same applies to the drug, gambling, internet, gaming, and probably especially sex addict. An addict of any kind might also fear admitting to needing help out of a fear that to admit to a problem is just making excuses for his bad habit, that he should just stop cold turkey and that to ask for help is hypocritical. Something along the lines of:
'I'm not an addict, there's no such thing as addiction. I'm just an butt-hole making excuses for himself, and so should kick this cold turkey on my own and if I can't, then I deserve what I get.'
This is not even about how others will perceive him if he admits to needing help. It often has to do with his perception of himself. That step alone can be a difficult one, admitting powerlessness over the addiction, that just relying on self-control just won't cut it, that he actually does need social support.
Yet concern over how others will judge him is real. That is one part of the success of 12-step groups. All members are addicts themselves, whether struggling, in recovery, or recovered.
Such a network also helps with practical solutions such as identifying triggers and how to avoid them.
For an alcoholic, it might mean avoiding bars altogether, maybe also avoiding friends when they are drinking, at least until he is recovered.
For the gambling addict, it might even mean not buying lottery tickets since they could again trigger his desire to go to the casino.
For the internet, gaming, and maybe porn addict, it might involve buying a phone with no Internet capability, or at least downloading the screentime app or other similar measures. It might involve always keeping his phone in an open area of the house, or ensuring Internet access only at the local library where time is restricted and he is sitting in a public place where all can see his screen.
For the sex addict, it might involve learning certain social skills that he'd never learnt before with regards to respecting boundaries. Research shows that sex addicts have often been sexually, physically, or more commonly emotionally abused as children.
Food addicts would have to learn coping skills of their own, such as healthy eating habits and finding other means of coping with emotions besides turning to food. Maybe even taking a healthy cooking course, etc.
But again, first they must be able to give it a name, then know where to turn for help, then accept that there is no shame in admitting powerlessness over an addiction and seeking help.
The question then becomes, how does society ensure that the information is easily accessible for them to take the first step of visiting the appropriate website, read it, and think about it until he is finally ready to take the leap of faith and seek help? Some might want help but have difficulty conceptualizing how sitting around a table and talking about the problem will help them, not realizing that it's not just psycho mumbo jumbo, but rather exchanging practical solutions to help avoid triggers or physically reduce the ability to easily act on the triggers.
Then there's public attitudes. Do you pressure your friend to drink if he doesn't want to? What about your colleague who doesn't want to participate in the group lottery fund (maybe it triggers him to want to go to buy more or go to the casino but he doesn't want anyone to know his problem)?
If your friend doesn't want to join the guys and go to the nightclub to pick up some women, do you call him a prude? Maybe he's struggling with sexually compulsive behaviour that he's trying learn to control. Maybe he doesn't like watching films with sexual undertones since they trigger him.
Plenty of other examples come to mind of how the surrounding culture itself often misunderstands the compulsive behaviour of addicts and the difficulty addicts might face in trying to avoid triggers while refusing to tell his friends why he doesn't want to drink, participate in the group lottery, etc.
But what is the underlying cause of a person's fear of seeking help?
If he suffers mental illness, is it not conceivable that he might have had bad experiences with mental health professionals in the past, or even just bad social experiences generally which might have led to the illness in the first place? In that case, trust needs to be built first.
Another thong to consider is that military personnel, their spouses and their children move around a lot, and Canada is a big country. A child raised in a military family will likely be emotionally distant from his extended family and will likely have learnt how to always make new friends but also how to never get too emotionally attached to his friends as a means of emotional self-preservation. Once it becomes a habit though, it becomes a lonely place. I imagine adult military personnel can develop this habit too after many years in the service.
Just a note, children of military personnel can develop intergenerational PTSD in childhood that can remain well into adulthood.
Having worked, at one time, with individuals with mental health issues, what often happens is when they get the help they need (i.e. on medications, counselling as needed), often times they don't like the way the medication makes them feel so they go off their meds and then, of course, the symptom(s) of their illness return(s). It's can be a vicious circle. Trying different medications so that they don't make them feel like listless zombies is time consuming and likely takes some time and patience. Unless the person completely understands their illness and is firm in their commitment to keep trying different medications until they get the right one, the cycle keeps happening. Some of those drugs are pretty powerful. I sometimes wonder If the drugs cause (or result) of some individuals committing suicide. Also, you can't force people to take their meds.
If the individual is homeless, it guarantees failure in assisting them. They need a roof over their heads and stability in their lives and that won't happen unless they get on the proper medication and have the supports they need. Again, a vicious circle. It's not an easy thing to deal with but we need to assist them as best we can.
I tend to oppose the idea of a guaranteed annual income due to the fact that it can actually hurt struggling addicts. For them, direct assistance is needed. One possible solution could be a guaranteed annual income put on a Government-issued debit card a portion of the money on which can be used only to buy certain categories of items (shelter whether rent or purchase, food, clothing, means of transportation such as a bicycle or a bus pass, car, driving test, etc.), and the rest only through interac, but no cash back and no purchase of tobacco or alcohol or lottery tickets allowed.
A completely liberalized guaranteed income would only hurt addicts. Believe it or not, an addict himself might not want to have access to money when in the struggling stage.
A completely liberalized guaranteed income would only hurt addicts. Believe it or not, an addict himself might not want to have access to money when in the struggling stage.
Medicine Hat has done a masterful job of dealing with homelessness
The numbers are interesting. If you accept the numbers in this link, approximately 0.3% of the veteran population is homeless.
Homelessness among Canadian military veterans: by the numbers.
Given that the number 200,000 is being bandied around for total homeless population, this would mean that the homeless rate for veterans would be roughly 1/2 that of the general population.
The numbers are interesting. If you accept the numbers in this link, approximately 0.3% of the veteran population is homeless.
Homelessness among Canadian military veterans: by the numbers.
Given that the number 200,000 is being bandied around for total homeless population, this would mean that the homeless rate for veterans would be roughly 1/2 that of the general population.
At least 2,250 of Canada’s veterans are homeless due to alcoholism, drugs and mental health, study finds
The federal government has — for perhaps the first time — taken a stab at estimating how many of the country’s veterans are homeless, but the report by Employment and Social Development Canada cautions the data is far from complete.
Sunny Ways does nothing for these people... but bringing in refugee looks good on the International stage..
That doesn't surprise me one iota. I had two uncles return from Europe after 6 years of fighting in W.W.2, one was totally f**ked up at 30 years old and never held a steady job after that, the other one wasn't quite as bad, he managed to hold a job but was drunk every weekend! He died at age 58.
Boy are you out to lunch.
It has a great deal to do with being a veteran.
We never saw this abundance of homeless peacetime veterans because they weren't coming back with severe cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The substance abuse and mental health issues are directly impacted by that and Veterans Affairs Canada under the watch of the Federal Conservatives and their Liberal predecessors who are both to blame for allowing this to happen.
How? By the changes to the pension act that give an injured soldier a payout and then cutting them loose. This was brought in by the Liberals, and the Conservatives, always looking to save a buck, did nothing to change it.
Read: The New Veterans Charter, which came into effect in 2006, was established by Veterans Affairs Canada to meet the needs of "new" veterans, especially those who have served in Afghanistan. The assumption is that these veterans have different needs from those who served in the Second World War and Korea or with United Nations peacekeeping missions. The charter provides an earnings loss benefit, a financial award and other allowances to veterans who have been assessed as having a service-related disability. It replaces the Pension Act, which provided these benefits to "traditional" veterans under a different legal structure. The single biggest difference is that the charter offers a one-time lump-sum disability award, whereas the Pension Act offered a monthly tax-free pension for life and a survivor benefit.
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