Families of veterans fight for extended mental health care
Global News
Some 20 years after her husband was killed in a roadside bomb while serving in Afghanistan, Amanda Anderson says she feels abandoned by Veterans Affairs Canada.
Amanda Anderson’s husband, Cpl. Jordan Anderson was among five soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in 2007 in Afghanistan.
From that moment on, Anderson’s life changed forever.
Sitting in her living room, almost 20 years later, surrounded by cherished photos and mementos of her husband, Anderson recalls feeling abandoned by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).
“I did not get mental health care after my husband died. I was offered at that time — the policy was 10 sessions,” she explains.
“I felt that with the manner that he died in and the amount of rebuilding that was going to be required, that I was not going to start therapy when I was only offered 10 sessions, because I felt that I would need more,” she said.
She sought community–based support instead, but says it took three years.
Anderson and other spouses of veterans are calling on VAC to expand mental health benefits for family members.
Anderson now helps others navigate the system and says the service is a “patchwork” inconsistently offered to family members.
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