Defying PTSD stigma
03:40PM Nov 10, 2008 in category 
by George W Frink
Army Maj. Gen. David Blackledge has defied the American military culture of silence about psychiatric injuries, and defied our society's crippling prejudice against the mentally ill, by seeking treatment for and speaking openly about his post-traumatic stress disorder.
The broad problem he has chosen to confront is acute and pervades not just U.S. society, but apparently all of English-speaking culture.
Earlier this year, a McGill University study of Canadian troops found that "more than half of the military members with a mental disorder do not use any of the mental health services available to them."Fear of career damage was a principal reason.
For civilians, recent British study found that nine out of ten who suffer from mental illness face discrimination from almost every quarter.
Frink
