A look at the devastating toll of PTSD
A murder-suicide involving a former soldier and his family has renewed calls to bolster support for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The body of 33-year-old Afghanistan veteran Lionel Desmond was found Tuesday in Upper Big Tracadie, N.S. Police say autopsies concluded Desmond and three family members died of gunshot wounds, and that his own wound was self-inflicted. Desmond’s 31-year-old wife Shanna, their 10-year-old daughter Aaliyah and his 52-year-old mother Brenda Desmond were the victims.
Before the tragedy, Desmond revealed on social media that he was struggling with PTSD, as well as post-concussion disorder and “ADD/ADHD from thrashing my head.”
But such extreme attacks by PTSD sufferers are relatively rare, says Dr. Raj Bhatla, psychiatrist-in-chief at The Royal, a mental health centre in Ottawa.