Mental Health In Law Enforcement

No matter where you are in the work force, there’s always going to be struggles. It’s going to test your limits, and you have to be able to know how far your willing to push yourself without risking being burnt out, but when it comes to working in an environment where you deal with dangerous situations and see things that no one should see can take a toll on your mental health.

Police officers routinely face situations that most people might never encounter in a lifetime – from dealing with violent crimes to providing first aid at the scene of accidents, and the cumulative effect of these experiences can be significant.

Law enforcement isn’t for everyone, but sometimes the toughest person who can deal with anything thrown at them can still struggle with mental health. They don’t talk about because they don’t want to come off as weak. It’s not an easy thing to talk about especially when you are working a job that it’s supposed to involve being tough and strong. One moment of weakness and you are looked at differently.

Police officers are known to have a higher rate of depression, anxiety and PTSD. 25% of police officers have experienced suicidal ideation at least once in their lifetime. With everything that they experience, there’s no question on how it affects you mentally. Police officers tend to develop substance abuse since its their way of dealing with what they see and do every day.

Suicide within the police force is alarming since its 4 times higher than firefighters. It’s more likely that a police officer will commit suicide before they are killed in the line of duty.  

You also have to consider injuries. Depending how and where you get hurt, you could be off for weeks, sometimes months and that can affect your mental health. A lot of police officers take pride in their work and want to get back as soon as they can, but the longer they are off, the worst their going to get mentally, if they don’t seek the proper help when addressing what had happened. They will use anything they can to help them cope with not working.

A lot of the time, a police officer would get back to work too soon which can delay the healing of the injury, which can lead to even longer recovery time.

There have been cases where law enforcement have interacted with people who are struggling with mental health, and they don’t know how to respond, or they get scared and do something that involves shooting the person. Police officers don’t have the proper treatment when it comes to handling mental health. They see a situation where they feel unsafe and the first thing they do is use their power as law enforcement to over power. They don’t have the knowledge or the resources, instead they take in their own hands, and it ends badly. People have a god complex, and they will it to their advantage without thinking about the consequences.

Of course, there’s a time and place to do what you can to protect yourself, but with body cams and witnesses, it’s hard to be able to do the right thing without having someone criticize how the situation was handled.

If you are in law enforcement and are struggling with mental health, please get help. Reach out to someone. If being at work is starting to get too much, take a mental health break. There’s no shame in stepping back. Focus on yourself and get better.