EPISODE #11: Remembering and Honouring our Canadian Veterans
In this episode, we will take some time to acknowledge the contributions of our Military Veteran’s and their role in all conflicts, as well as those who have made sacrifices on the home-front. We encourage people to learn more about the role of our Indigenous and Black Veterans and the extra obstacles they faced as they proudly and bravely served our country.
We also would like to take some time to explore how many of our Veteran’s struggle with the transitions to civilian life and specifically with PTSD. We used to refer to this as ‘shell shock’ but it was rarely discussed. Instead, many people suffered in silence and opted to self-medicate with alcohol and other substance use and misuse. There are consequences of this type of self-medicating; obviously, on individuals themselves and also intergenerationally when we consider prenatal alcohol exposures; the direct impact on the child’s development, and also for children who grow up in homes where Mental Health and addictions are left untreated.