Romeo Dallaire PTSD

Throughout the history of the world’s conflict, soldiers have suffered in a multitude of ways. On the battlefields of the American Civil War, both Union and Confederate soldiers witnessed gruesome wounds. In the trenches of World War I, chemical warfare was a constant threat, and a very dangerous one, at that. Most recently, in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran, warriors and civilians alike fell victim to a kind of guerilla warfare never before seen; suicide bombings. This was in conjunction with the use of weapons such as landmines that terrorized cities for years after conflict ended. As a result of these horrors, those involved often were afflicted by “shell shock,” “battle fatigue,” or, as it is known today, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Throughout this time, the majority of the attempts were centered around driving, as Dallaire had, according to the article, never truly believed that he would take his own life deliberately. In an effort to keep himself safe, Dallaire, who was aware of his altered mental state, handed his firearms to Maurice Baril, who guards his weapons to this day. Although he did not have any guns to end his life immediately, Dallaire did, certainly, make attempts on it. One of the two examples the article gives is set in April of 2000. “One night after he was medically discharged from the army in April 2000, former Lt.-Gen. Roméo Dallaire drank most of a bottle of scotch in his Hull, Que., apartment before he opened a metal box containing his father's medals and his 50-year-old razor. Very slowly, he began to slice himself, first his thighs, then his arms” (Bethune). Additionally, in June of the same year, Dallaire was found in a nearly comatose state following a binge of scotch and antidepressants, a potentially lethal concoction (Bethune). These are just a few examples of Dallaire’s attempts to commit suicide over two decades, but the fact that both of them occurred in the same year is a testament to the severity of his