United States Department of Veterans Affairs

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs appears in the novel as part of the institutional context surrounding Benton Bishop’s struggle to obtain care for PTSD. In Dane Bishop’s account, difficulty accessing treatment through the department’s system delayed Benton’s path to diagnosis and helped drive him toward private care.

Access to Care

Dane describes Benton as experiencing symptoms associated with PTSD, including difficulty sleeping, night terrors, anxiety in crowds and around loud noises, and withdrawal from everyday life. Both Benton and his wife recognized that he was struggling, but, according to Dane, he could not obtain proper treatment through the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. With appointments in high demand, he waited nearly a year.

Private Diagnosis and Treatment

Rather than continue waiting, Benton saw a private-care practitioner using his wife’s insurance and obtained a diagnosis. The account distinguishes this private route from the delayed access he had faced through the department. Benton subsequently took Hymalete, a medication his doctor said would improve his depression and PTSD symptoms; Dane recalls that the promised improvement and resolution of side effects did not occur as expected. The evidence does not attribute the prescription or the medication’s effects to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

Narrative Significance

The department’s role is presented through Dane’s recollection, not through a description of its internal structure or policies. The nearly year-long wait gives concrete form to the gap between Benton’s recognized need for care and his ability to receive it in time. That delay is one part of the circumstances behind his turn to private treatment; separately, Dane’s unsuccessful efforts to persuade BioSphere that Hymalete had harmed his brother become a continuing source of frustration and a motive for seeking accountability.