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Andy Barrie, Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire and Merrill Lynch Canada representative, Gerald Throop, Executive Vice-President and Managing Director, Equity Markets Group. |
Ottawa, Ontario
Military leader speaks out about PTSD to effect reforms in the Canadian Forces mental health system
Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire is a true hero and an outspoken leader for the 21st century. By publicly speaking about his own struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, Dallaire has become a crusader for others in uniform suffering similar stress disorders.
A decorated Lt. General, Roméo Dallaire served for 35 years with the Canadian Armed Forces. His first posting was to the Fifth Regiment, which was a new artillery regiment created as a part of the laws brought in to include bilingualism in the military. He served in various postings and command positions including Quebec City, Gagetown, U.S. Marine Corp Staff College in Virginia, and in Ottawa. He attended the first British Higher Command staff course during the Gulf War.
His most famous command appointment was his peacekeeping and United Nations Assistance mission as Commander -- United Nations Observer Mission: Uganda and Rwanda. The horrifying images and actions of that civil war have left Dallaire to fight back against his own mind, as a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder. Recently retired, Dallaire has spearheaded the effort to redefine the long-term professional training and development requirements of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Guilt is one of the most debilitating aspects of post-traumatic stress disorder, now recognized by several countries as the "Peacekeepers Injury." Dallaire says, "In peacekeeping you are not fighting. An individual sergeant or corporal who witnesses such actions and cannot use force goes through a mental crash. His moral values, his ethical values, his religious beliefs are brought together and they're all crashing against the unthinkable." He adds that there is a new generation of veterans who suffer from injuries to the mind more than to the body. Reforms were required in National Defense and Veterans Canada to recognize and respond appropriately to their needs as well as those of their family. He wants people to acknowledge that an injury of the mind is just as debilitating as an injury of the physical body and must be taken care of with the same sense of urgency and completeness.
Like any wound, healing takes time. Dallaire might have become Canada's next chief of defense staff when the extent of his wound was revealed. He was found in an Ottawa park, an empty bottle of scotch beside him, disoriented and suicidal. Many of his friends and colleagues avoided him partly out of concern that they might say the wrong thing and partly because they did not really know what the problem was. He found himself increasingly isolated and felt he was weakening physically and emotionally.
Although the recovery process is not necessarily a continuum of stability, General Dallaire has been able to use his own experiences to bring these issues into the open and today is presenting to audiences around the world, including presentations on leadership and professional development and international conflict resolution. He has received a Fellowship from the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University to pursue research in conflict resolution. Dallaire is currently the Special Advisor to the Minister of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and is completing his book on the Rwandan civil war and genocide.
General Roméo Dallaire is one of the most vocal military personnel to bring post-traumatic stress disorder to the public. He remains a strong and courageous leader in the reforms of the Canadian Forces mental health system.
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This page was last modified on February 5, 2003 9:31 AM .
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