Shane Jones’s combat tour in Afghanistan ended in 2005. But the war followed him home.
The retired corporal’s family — including his teenage daughter — have had to walk on eggshells often in the years since.
An armoured vehicle rollover left Jones with a traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress, injuries that changed him forever.
“My husband is not a violent man,” said Veronica Jones, Shane’s wife. “My husband suffers from severe PTSD.
“And for our daughter, growing up … If you live by the cesspool, everybody gets splashed.”
The Eastern Passage, N.S., family is among many affected by Veterans Affairs’ move to tighten access to department-sponsored mental health services for veterans’ family members.
The crackdown was prompted by the embarrassing revelation almost two years ago that a convicted killer — the son of a former soldier — received PTSD counselling for the murder he committed.
Veterans Affairs issues a denial
In an appearance before a House of Commons committee last week, a senior Veterans Affairs official denied that any families had been “cut off” from counselling services.
That comes as startling news to Jones and other veterans’ families, whose therapy bills are now being paid out-of-pocket after initially being covered by the department.
Those relatives now want the opportunity to plead their cases before the Commons veterans committee when it reconvenes next month for hearings on the restrictions.
The public debate over the last several years has been limited to whether former soldiers are getting adequate help and treatment, said Veronica Jones.
“There needs to be an actual conversation about what the families are going through and how the families need support,” she said.
Her 14-year-old daughter Ruth was diagnosed with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder by two doctors, who have attributed her condition to the stress of living in a home with someone who has a severe brain injury.
Veterans Affairs paid for her counselling — then cut her off in September as part of a sweeping reinterpretation of its guidelines.
‘I am heartbroken’
She no longer fits one of the criteria for receiving funded treatment — that treatment be “sho