PTSD Report to Government of Canada
March 2, 2012

The Mood Disorders Society of Canada (MDSC) issued a comprehensive new Report to the Government of Canada on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which calls for a new national strategy to overhaul the way the disorder is handled in the Canadian healthcare system. Entitled Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind, the Report aims to improve access to expert diagnostic and treatment care for PTSD sufferers and their families, while eroding the social stigma that surrounds the disorder.

In part, the report recommends:

• Creating a national PTSD network that will work to advance PTSD research, prevention, diagnosis and treatment in an integrated and cohesive way across Canada;
• Developing an PTSD Anti-Stigma Campaign, jointly funded by Health Canada and the Department of Veterans Affairs;
• Enhancing the knowledge of physicians about the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD, including information on available patient resources and support networks;
• Developing a continuing medical educational module for Canada's family physicians dealing with the specific stigma of PTSD and enhancing the knowledge base of physicians about PTSD to facilitate better diagnosis and treatment;
• Educating PTSD sufferers and their families on available support networks and resources to improve their accessibility; and
• Forging a national PTSD research agenda to further understand triggers and optimal treatments of the disorder.

PTSD Event in Ottawa October 26, 2012

On October 26, 2011, Mood Disorders Society of Canada hosted a roundtable on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa entitled "Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind"

The event was attended by over 75 thought leaders to discuss the serious, and often misunderstood illness of PTSD and the how to reduce the social stigma that surrounds it:

• federal members of parliament and senators
• federal departments of health, environment, human resources, the Mental Health Commission
• organizations representing mental health, health care, brain injury, Canadian forces military and veteran affairs, health research, pharmaceutical research, aboriginal affairs, universities, and corrections
• other experts in PTSD, corporations interested in promoting mental health and those with lived experience

Themes for the roundtable discussions included:

• System Capacity
• De-Stigmatizing PTSD
• Family Supports
• Enhancing PTSD Research
  

Veterans Affairs News Release, Oct 26, 2011.

Photos

[Below] MP Chris Alexander speaks with Dave Gallson of Mood Disorders Society of Canada, and Michael Leo and Marcel Chenard from Lundbeck Canada.

[Below] The Hon. Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs, and MP Chris Alexander, alongside participants in "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind."

[Below] The Hon. Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Kellie Leitch, M.P., Chris Alexander, M.P., and event Emcee Tom Clark, alongside participants at "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind."

[Below] Dr. Zul Merali (President/CEO of the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research) speaks with Mrs. Leslie Natynczyk (Honorary Patron, Military Families Fund and wife of the Chief of the Defence Staff).

Read Dec 2012 E-News