Man's search for PTSD treatment turns into battle for survival

The Pressures ofPTSD

Stephen Budd'sjourney withpost-traumatic stress disorderis documented in a three-part series prepared by CBC reporter Olivia Stefanovich forMorning North.

Part one: Diagnosis

Morning North10:10The Pressures of PTSD - Part 1

Nightmares. Hallucinations. Flashbacks. The CBC's Olivia Stefanovich brings us Part 1 of a documentary series about a Sudbury man diagnosed with PTSD. It's the story of Stephen Budd and his challenges trying to find mental health treatment.

Part two: Finding treatment

Morning North7:47The pressures of PTSD - part 2

We continue our three part series featuring Stephen Budd, a Sudbury man diagnosed with PTSD. The CBC's Olivia Stefanovich prepared this documentary which looks at navigating Sudbury mental health while under constant emotional and psychological stress.

Part three: Recovery

A man says he was on the cusp of malnutritionas he waited for disability payments to be approved,and for treatment to help his post-traumatic stress disorder.

StephenBudd, 52, moved to Sudbury from Parry Sound, Ont., in August 2014to find appropriate mental health services for his condition.

"I used to own my house and I owned a lot of stuff," saidBudd."I'm now down to what fits in a bachelor apartment and a 12-foot trailer. Everything else has been sold to live on over the winter."

Buddwas diagnosed withPTSDin June 2014 from childhood abuse.

Buddcannot work because of his condition. He was told by his doctor that he should qualify for Ontario disability payments, but he was rejected on his first try.

"That's what you get for getting sick in this province,"saidBudd. "You lose everything,"

Fishing for food

Buddwas receiving$652 per month from welfare, but he said it was not enough to pay for his basic needs.

"Ihave in my freezer two servings of snapping turtle and pike," saidBudd. "That's literally how I get meat."

Buddand his brother Mike appealed his disability application. Theysent a five-pound file of his mental health records from the past 15 years to theMinistry of Community and Social Services.

Disability approved after four appeals

Buddsaid he was approved for disability payments this fall.

"Why does anyone who's actually disabled have to wait through four appeal processes?" askedBudd.

The Ministry of Community and Social Servicestold CBC News thatit cannottalk aboutBudd's disability application because it does notcomment on specific cases.

Buddfinds that frustrating because he thinks all of this could havebeen avoided if the system worked as it should.

"The problem is, we haven't been able to get treatment for this in four years," saidBudd."I'm drawing on the tax base from the social safety net not doing what they were supposed to do when I went in to them when this was a minor incident,until it became [an] accident, catastrophic, shit-disturbing problem."