PTSD Awareness Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize this past Sunday, June 27, as National Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day; and June as National PTSD Awareness Month.

We must do more to defy the stigmas surrounding mental health. National Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month is intended to raise public awareness about issues related to PTSD, reduce the stigma associated, and to help ensure those suffering receive proper treatment.

Currently, about eight million people in the United States are struggling with PTSD. PTSD treatment is a crucial tool that helps many individuals, particularly our Nation's veterans, process, cope, and treat emotional and mental trauma.

While PTSD can develop among any individual who faces a traumatic experience, it is often common in our servicemen and -women. Many of our servicemembers return home with injuries and scars, but in some cases it is the invisible scars that hurt the most.

The Department of Veterans Affairs offers a variety of resources to help those suffering with PTSD. There are a wide variety of options, group meetings, individual meetings, meetings via telemedicine. This ensures our veterans can receive timely assistance wherever they may live.

Mr. Speaker, I thank our Nation's veterans for their service, and I encourage those struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder to pursue treatment.

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