Some of those who didn't get that decompression time may still be incubating a breakdown years after their service. We have soldiers who are hurting, who have never come out of the closet. They probably don't even know what services are there. The syndrome can have a long-delayed reaction. While some people think there may be thousands of PTSD sufferers among serving and former soldiers, the army doesn't have an estimate.
Many soldiers seek help at clinics known as operational trauma stress support centres.
Now, that's assessments. It's not all cases of PTSD, and that's over basically an 18-month period. Soldiers can also seek private counselling and treatment. Dallaire thinks many are just bottling up fear and despair. Some of them try to commit suicide, some of them hide, some of them get very ill-tempered.