Tester designates National PTSD Awareness Month

Senator’s bipartisan resolution seeks to reduce stigma of mental health treatment

(U.S. SENATE) – Senator Jon Tester today released the following statement after sponsoring a bipartisan resolution to designate the month of June as National Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month:

“Too many veterans return home with the unseen wounds of war and feel they have nowhere to turn for help. But PTSD can be treated. We need to increase attention and resources to fight back against this condition while doing everything we can to reduce the stigma of seeking help so more veterans get the care they need.”

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, nearly 300,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been treated for PTSD.

Tester, Montana’s only member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, recently kicked off his new subcommittee on government efficiency by questioning the VA’s top health official about the department’s progress toward its goal of hiring 1,600 more mental health care providers.

Tester also fought to build, staff, and open the new psychiatric wing at Fort Harrison and promoted telehealth as a tool to help veterans in rural areas access needed mental health care.