Post-traumatic stress disorder has been acknowledged since the First World War, when it was known as shell shock. In the Second World War it was termed combat fatigue. Now a new generation of Canadian soldiers is dealing with PTSD after serving in places such as Rwanda - where Sen. Romeo Dallaire suffered his mental injuries as head of the UN peacekeeping force - the Middle East and most recently, Afghanistan.
But unlike returnees from the First and Second World Wars who came home to a Canada that was rebuilding itself and committed to providing jobs and homes for decommissioned soldiers, new veterans say they are encountering disinterest and find they suffer mostly on their own.