Changes to veterans' disability claims could cause PTSD rather than treat it, advocate warns

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An advocate for injured veterans says his goal is to help former soldiers navigate the complexbureaucracy of the benefits systemwithout "dying along the way"but this just got more complicated.

The federal Liberal government'snew pension-for-life plan came into effect on Monday. Theframework gives wounded and injured military members the option of receiving either a lifetime pension or a lump sum disability award. But under the new benefits system, Barry Westholmclaims the required paperwork "actually causes PTSD and stress" instead of getting ex-soldiers the treatment they need.

"They're so complicated and people have to go for help all the time with them. They're just, they're too complicated," said Westholm, a retired sergeant major and master warrant officer with the Canadian Armed Forces. He developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during a 1995 mission.

Westholm argues theoverhaul of the lump-sum payments introduced by the previous federal Conservative government, along with the revised psychological questionnaire for veterans with PTSD, will make it more difficult for people to qualify for PTSD benefits.

Dr. Kris Rose, a clinical psychologist in Calgary, echoed this. Hedescribed the new paperwork as less specific to PTSD symptoms and says it will make diagnoses tougher.

"Based on the information on this questionnaire PTSD does not exist," he said, explaining the formdoes notexamine the areas where trauma might exist.

In an email statement to The Current, a spokesperson for Veterans Affairs Canada defended the changes, explaining the updated questionnaire will streamline the diagnostic process and increase overall efficiency to ensure that veterans see shorter wait times for treatment.

According to 2017-18 federal Public Accounts records, PTSD is ranked as the third most commonly cited cause of disability award payments issued by Veterans Affairs, following only tinnitus and hearing loss.

Roughly 40,000 disability applications were waiting to be processed by Veterans Affairs as of November 2018, according to a recent report by The Canadian Press.

Click 'listen' near the top of this page to hear the full conversation.

Produced by John Chipman, Jessica Linzey and Murray Brewster.