The weight of Mike Mleinek's time in Afghanistan is written all over him.
Mleinek, a 32-year-old corporal with the Edmonton Garrison's Joint Personnel Support Unit, says he spent most of 2006 in Afghanistan's Helmand province, a region notorious for violence. He came home to his family a changed man.
"I was on edge all the time," he says. "I was quick to anger. I wasn't sleeping. I was getting flashbacks." He turned to specialists at the garrison's secondary clinic in St. Albert for help. They sent him to Northgate Mall.
It helped, he says. "I've definitely changed for the better. I'm still not 100 per cent, but I have a lot of work to do." He now has numerous tattoos to remind himself of his time in Afghanistan, including the words "Hard Luck" on his knuckles.
Mleinek is one of about 115 veterans, soldiers and police officers that have been helped by the new Operational Stress Injury Clinic at Edmonton's Northgate Mall. In operation for a year-and-a-half, the clinic officially opened its doors last Wednesday.
Canadian soldiers often witness unspeakable acts when in the field, says Edmonton Centre member of Parliament Laurie Hawn, speaking at the opening, acts that leave them with mental and physical wounds.
"These injuries are often invisible to other members, meaning many are left to suffer in silence."
This new centre will help about 150 veterans, soldiers and RCMP officers each year to overcome injuries such as addiction, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, Hawn says. "These clinics are safe havens for healing."
Comprehensive care
This clinic is one of 10 similar ones across Canada run by the Department of National Defence and Veteran Affairs Canada. The federal government announced funding for the $1.6-million clinic in 2008.
Soldiers face many barriers when it comes to getting mental health care off-base, says Jeff Sych, manager of the Edmonton clinic. They might feel threatened by a doctor's closed-in office, or worried that fellow soldiers will see them.
And doctors often don't understand military culture, he says. The military is a close-knit family; injured soldiers lose not only their careers, but also their friends. "You've gone from the top of your game to barely being able to get out of the house."
Unlike someone in a car accident, Mleinek says, soldiers are in high-stress, frightening situations for months on end rather than moments. "You're not dealing with one issue when you come in. You're dealing with 30 to 40."
The clinic is designed to address these problems, Sych says. The halls and offices are wide and well-lit to seem more inviting, and built with many twists, turns and exits to preserve privacy. The mall also provides visitors some anonymity. "They can just as easily be going to Safeway as coming here."
Clients meet with a team of nurses, psychologists and therapists who design a treatment program for them, Sych says. Unlike the similar clinics on base — known as operational trauma and stress support centres — this one can also help family members of soldiers.
Mleinek, who is being medically released from the military, says he and his wife have spent many months talking with counsellors at the centre about Afghanistan. It gets him out of the house, he says, and has helped him meet others with similar injuries.
There's still a lot of stigma around mental illness in the military, Mleinek says, but attitudes are changing. "We want to be rough-and-tough, but sometimes it's better to admit you have a problem."
He encouraged injured soldiers to give the centre a shot. "A couple of hours a week can make all the difference in your symptoms."
The clinic can be reached at 780-342-2792.
