Mental Wellbeing
Mental health has become a real talking point over the last few years. Multiple companies / people used to see this as a negative factor. Something that will impact the business or withhold someone from working. Furthermore, people were scared to open up regarding issues they were facing. It could be simply from judgement, being taken off front line policing and potentially loosing their job role. With multiple officers going through a process of dealing with mental health, we would connect you to others in order to share your thoughts and hear from people that have been through similar motions. Moreover, we would love to connect you to any charities which can help you refocus and get you on the path needed. Officers can experience up to over 400 - 500 life changing experiences in their career, the general public will deal with two to three on average. Your health is the most important thing, the job can wait.
Some brilliant charities and companies below:
The National Police Wellbeing Service | Oscar Kilo
Samaritans | Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy | Here to listen
Call4Backup – UK Police Peer Support Charity
We have a brilliant article written by a front line officer who has been through mental health within the workplace. A real interesting read to how he coped, how he overcome the issues and his personal feelings. We want to say a huge thank you to Max for sharing his process dealing with mental health issues that he struggled with. A truly inspirational story to show you that help is out there and you are enough. Please read below.....
From Max;
Mental Health in Policing: Depression, anxiety and PTSD & the challenges faced
by police officers.
"My name is Max, I’ve been a police officer in the Metropolitan Police Service for
just under 3 years and I am on the emergency response team attending 999 calls - incidents such as murders, domestic abuse, mental health, serious sexual
assaults and more.
Between November 2023 and February 2024, I went off sick from work with ill
mental health. This was due to a combination of reasons, including a complaint
raised against me which took just over a year to be resolved as ‘No Case To
Answer’. I was suffering from shaking due to anxiety, dependence on alcohol to
get me through my days off, suicidal-depression and flashbacks to traumatic
events".
"I’d like to use this article to raise awareness of mental health in policing and the
lack of support for those on the frontline. With police officers and staff taking
their own lives in numbers, and stress-related sickness on the rise, now is more a
time than ever to talk about it".
Why do police officers suffer mental health issues?
"Trauma - Police officers are exposed to approximately 300-400+ traumatic
events in their lifetime, whereas a normal member of the public would be
unlucky to reach 5. Such events can include, not limited to: child murder, infant
rape, death on the roads, terrorist attacks, gruesome unexpected deaths and
more".
"Pay & morale - Pay in the police service has increased, but nowhere near in line
with inflation and housing prices. Police officers are attending food banks or
missing dinners. As a result, interest in joining policing has decreased
dramatically causing staff shortages and declined annual leave/cancelled rest
days to meet demand. Morale is at it’s lowest".
"Public Trust - Public trust has understandably taken a steep decline following the
harrowing murder and rape of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, Wayne
Couzens, as well as the disgusting string of rape offences committed by David
Carrick - not to mention other instances of criminal behaviour by serving police
officers. These instances have an effect on the public perception of their police
officers but also has an effect on the men and women serving the public with
integrity and honesty in the Office of Constable".
"Senior Leadership - Our senior leaders are the officers who are supposed to
protect us, guide us, support us and make us want to come to work. Instead, they
have become politicians. They crumble to public opinion and throw us to the
wolves in the face of scrutiny".
"Accountability - Police officers should rightfully be held accountable for their
actions and/or inactions in the course of their duties. However, with armed
police officers facing several years under investigation for discharging their
firearm or police officers being prosecuted for doing their jobs to appease the
woke demands of the public - why would we come to work out of fear that today
is the day we get arrested and charged for doing our job"?
"Bullying - Bullying is something that is unfortunately rife in policing. You are
bullied if you’re too tall, too short, too slim, too large. You are bullied if you are
intelligent or if you aren’t as much. You are bullied if you suffer from mental
health issues, but you are also bullied if you show no emotions. This isn’t just
from PC level - this is across the board".
"Humanity - As a police officer, we are expected to lose our humanity by the
public".
Why are all of these things an issue?
"Due to some of the reasons above and more, police officers are resigning in the
thousands. Between 2012 and 2022, officer voluntary resignations increased by
196%, with 3,433 officer’s resigning in 2022. I’d hazard a guess that this has
increased yet again".
Was I treated any differently after declaring my mental health issues to my
employer?
"After declaring my mental health issues, I was treated like an outsider. I was
alienated by the people who I always thought had my back. When I returned to
work after 3 months sickness, I was ignored and laughed at for taking time to
better my mental health".
What was my path to recovery?
"Therapy is something that I have always been nervous about utilizing due to a
bad experience with my occupational health-provided counselling service and
NHS waiting times. As such, I decided to invest in private counselling - a decision I
will never regret. Opening up to someone who is there to listen has helped me
become stronger".
"I exercised more and made sure I had my Vitamin D exposure. I had weekly
massages to help with my muscle stresses and tensions.
I sought help from friends and family, who were there for me without judgement.
I also invested in Flow Neuroscience technology to coincide with my medication.
Are you alone"?
"Absolutely not. Just because you have mental health issues doesn’t make you any
less of a good police officer or a good person.
Mental health issues are scary, unpredictable and draining but there are people
out there who are willing and happy to support you".
Police Care UK
Trojan Wellbeing
Samaritans
Flint House
Oscar Kilo
call4backup
Mind
(LINKS ARE ABOVE THE ARTICLE)
"Police officers are just human beings. Some of us chose to do our jobs, but for
most of us it was a calling. We were called to give our lives to public service - and
we don’t regret it".
The opinions featured in this article are my own and are not that of my
employer.
We would love to hear inspirational stories as well so please get in touch if you wish for us to post your story here.