A day commemorating the anniversary of Australian and New Zealand troops landing at Gallipoli in 1915, ANZAC Day holds a very special place in our community. We are reminded of just how lucky we are to live in a society like ours, the sacrifice of so many who defend our way of life and the values on which it is built.
On ANZAC Day and at other times, we reflect on the magnitude of the loss and suffering associated with conflicts and wars in which Australian and New Zealand troops have fought. What we probably don’t appreciate as much is that for so many returned service men and women, the fighting doesn’t stop when they come home. They may no longer be wearing a uniform, but they are fighting none the less.
Veterans' experience of PTSD
Veterans are more likely to experience significant mental health challenges, with at least one in four meeting the diagnostic threshold for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in their lifetime. Australia has lost more veterans and defence personnel to suicide over the past few decades than in combat.
The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide’s interim report serves as a call to action to tackle this tragedy. At St John of God Health Care we have been leading this call for more than 30 years, beginning with the establishment of the first dedicated PTSD program to support Vietnam Veterans at St John of God Richmond Hospital in the 1990s. Today we continue with our investment in the Richmond campus development and our vision for a better future.
ANZAC courage and endurance
The ANZAC tradition speaks to courage and endurance. On ANZAC Day we think about these things in the context of conflict and war. We don’t often think of the courage and endurance of our returned veterans who face the immense challenges of psychological injury and trauma. For many this is a battle nobody prepared them for, invisible to the outside world and one which may only start when they return home.
This is the courage we see each and every day in the veteran community we serve. We all need to heed the call to action that this Royal Commission represents. We can do better, in fact we must do better.
Colman O’Driscoll
CEO St John of God Burwood and Richmond Hospitals, Group Lead Mental Health Strategy
