At least 2,250 of Canada’s veterans are homeless due to alcoholism, drugs and mental
- Thread starter B00Mer
- Start date
Yes, your agenda. As I've said before, I've had experience with homelessness when my wife was left untreated for dementia. There are numerous reasons people become homeless and people from all walks of life become homeless. It would appear that, statistically speaking, veterans fair better than the general public. Despite this, you're angry about it. From my perspective, we're obviously doing something right.
All good points, though we can extend this. Should military mental health services specializing in PTSD and such extend only to veterans or to their dependants (and ex-dependants) too? It's only logical that if many veterans suffer PTSD, that many of their children will too. I myself fall in that category. My father was too proud to seek help. I did as an adult but too late. I'm already diagnosed with it. The trick now is to check my behaviour, especially any subconscious behaviour, so that I don't pass it on to my children too.
Of course we can say that there are civilian facilities for transgenerational trauma sufferers. True enough. But in that case, how do we ensure that civilian facilities provide quality and accessible PTSD therapists too?
Though anyone can suffer PTSD or transgenerational trauma (just another form of PTSD transmitted to children through a PTSD sufferer's behaviour), it is reasonable to suppose that most sufferers in Canada will be veterans, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, residential school survivors, and the children of any of the above, and presumably their spouses or other dependants too potentially.
Ah, thanks.
As some others have said, the Housing First idea has been a raging success everywhere it has been tried, improving delivery of services, improving outcomes for the homeless of all types, and reducing the cost of providing social services by at least half, and usually much more.
It's a very simple concept. You have a home, no matter what. You will not be kicked out on the streets for using drugs, or not using drugs you should use, or for "misconduct," or for any other reason. It has done wonders for the hardcore homeless population.
The data are in. Anybody who doesn't support Housing First is a blithering idiot.
Oh, what the heck do you know about it, Retired Can Sol. . . oh.
Never mind.
No lie, man.
I had a period of homelessness when I got out of service, finished law school, and already had my first lawyer job, just hadn't started it yet. I was fine, I had plenty of friends, and crashed here and there. I had a working car and enough money for food, just not enough for rent. So I was about the best-off homeless person ever.
The stress was enormous, just the knowledge of not having a place that's yours, where you belong. It was the hardest time of my life. And that was when I was sane (well, as sane as I ever get), educated, money in my pocket, and the sure knowledge that I'd be working and making more money than I ever had before in just a few weeks. If it was that hard on me, I can only imagine how bad it is for somebody in fragile mental health, with no money, few or no friends, and quite literally dependent on the kindness of strangers.
You dodged the question. I'm gainfully employed, thank you very much.
I'll repeat the question for you. How is PTSD my fault?
To clarify, I'm not talking actions. Should I choose to drink, gamble, do drugs, get hooked on computer games, porn, pay for sex, overeating, smoking, etc. Etc. Etc. Yes, I should accept responsibility for my actions. My question is not about any action, but rather about my state of mind. How is the PTSD itself my fault, and how do I just get over the PTSD?
Your words, not mine.
My agenda. LOL
The title of the Thread: At least 2,250 of Canada’s veterans are homeless due to alcoholism, drugs and mental health issues.
It would be refreshing if you didn't just simply ignore the things you say, when you can't substantiate them.
Silly me, what was I thinking. You're a first class wimp in the arena of debate.
You should run for a political seat.
Yes and no.
In a material sense, yes, but my own effort was only half of the equation. Luck was the other. After leaving the military, I'd ended up making many teetotaller friends. Had teetotallers not existed, I don't know that I could ever have climbed out of the alcoholism.
As for another addiction related to self-harm and massochism that I shall not mention here in spite of my anonymity, I was able to climb out of it the moment I'd learnt that a support network existed for it, but that was only years after it had significantly escalated.
To my mind, only I suffered from this and could not even imagine that help could possibly exist for it, and I would have been too ashamed to mention it to anyone not familiar with it. Since I could not even name it, even if I had been able to imagine that others might suffer the same thing, I would not have known what key words to look for to find it online. Believe it or not, even inflicting physical pain on oneself can be addictive. Anything that can trigger the brain to produce and release dopamine to numb emotional pain.
It was by sheer coincidence that I happened to come across a website one day that described my behaviour to a T, and gave it a name. From there I was finally able to seek help. In spite of struggling with it for years, I was able to learn to control the behaviour within months of being able to name it and where to obtain help for it.
All I'd lacked all that time was just a few pieces of information, a name for my problem, a website to turn to to learn more, and an e-mail address to finally get in touch with others suffering the same problem.
So why have I not completely gotten over it?
Many reasons, one of which is borne out of frustration that it had taken me so many years to finally learn how to control my behaviour when all it had taken was a website. The question then becomes how to reach out to others who might suffer the same while maintaining the strictest anonymity so that they don't have to go through what I had to go through.
12-step programmes exist for many addictions, and they are all welcoming of similar problems. For example, if no NA group exists locally, AA will generally welcom drug addicts and vice versa if the reverse is true. Not all members of SAA are sex addicts. Some might simply be addicted to non-sexual masochism or emotional dependency, but close enough. I'm sure you'll find Internet gaming addicts in Gamblers Anonymous and vice versa. But again, people who have never heard of 12-step groups or who are unaware of just how 'big-tent' they are, etc. and who are unaware that professional therapists do in fact deal with their special addiction (many falsely believing their problem is unique and that no one in the world could possibly suffer the same thing) won't even know where to turn for help.
What is the point of money if you are unhappy. And how can you not be affected after suffering for years from something you could solve within months with just a little information? Certainly you'll wonder how you could possibly have overlooked the obvious for so many years and then wonder how you might help others who just don't know where to look.
I'm well aware of the title of the thread. The point you seem to miss is that being a veteran and being homeless are not particularly tied to one another despite what you think. In fact, judging by the stats, many veterans are homeless in in spite of being veterans and not because of it. I understand that you don't want to discuss that. That's OK. My comments are meant for others.
Don't be silly. If you bothered to read the thread instead of just troll, you'd see.
I am not going to minimize the impact of this study but there is a difference
not considered here. We have wounded vets and those with trauma in
serious trouble and neglect this is true.
We had the same problems with the boys who came home after WWI and
WWII and even the Korean War. They fared even worse. At the time in our
history we considered any of those going for help to be weak or inferior
and so drunkenness and mental health issues were swept away by public
opinion. Homelessness was considered to be the vets fault he didn't pull
himself up by the boot straps and make his way. After all if he was strong
enough to be a warrior he was strong enough to get back into society.
Remember the stink for guys like my dad was much longer he went to
Britain in late 39 and never got home until the fall of 45.
In short while we talk about the neglect of the present remember the public
purse got off lightly by the standard of today. This is a problem for veterans
affairs and not refugees. If we were to apply individual priorities to every
problem thins would be worse nothing would get done period We have a
budget and that includes unforeseen situations and the refugee situation is
one of those.
not considered here. We have wounded vets and those with trauma in
serious trouble and neglect this is true.
We had the same problems with the boys who came home after WWI and
WWII and even the Korean War. They fared even worse. At the time in our
history we considered any of those going for help to be weak or inferior
and so drunkenness and mental health issues were swept away by public
opinion. Homelessness was considered to be the vets fault he didn't pull
himself up by the boot straps and make his way. After all if he was strong
enough to be a warrior he was strong enough to get back into society.
Remember the stink for guys like my dad was much longer he went to
Britain in late 39 and never got home until the fall of 45.
In short while we talk about the neglect of the present remember the public
purse got off lightly by the standard of today. This is a problem for veterans
affairs and not refugees. If we were to apply individual priorities to every
problem thins would be worse nothing would get done period We have a
budget and that includes unforeseen situations and the refugee situation is
one of those.