Self Care To Release Police Officer Stress
It always seems like a silly question when people ask “Do you take care of yourself”. Of course the answer is going to be “yes, I do”. But, when people ask you “What do you do to take care of yourself” is where people seem to hit a wall and not know what to say.
Self care can be defined as “any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Although it’s a simple concept in theory, it’s something we very often overlook. Good self-care is key to improved mood and reduced anxiety. It’s also key to a good relationship with oneself and others.” (psychcentral.com). One key thing to note is that self care is not something that you need to force yourself to do. It should give you pure enjoyment and should relax you from day to day stresses.
It is no surprise that there is no shortage of stressful or traumatic situations when it comes to law enforcement. This could be things that they encounter on a daily basis, or things that are exaggerated by the news media outlets and social media. This causes police officers to be tired, stressed out and burned out constantly. This is where self care would come into play. Lexipol, which is a policy management software for public safety, has come up with a list of many ways that we can see police officers getting stressed or burned out. Some of these examples include: ”
- Isolation and withdrawal
- Being disengaged or unmotivated
- Physical exhaustion
- Nightmares and flashbacks
- Poor hygiene or apathy about one’s physical appearance
- Loss of empathy or compassion
- Relationship issues, including divorce
- Substance misuse and abuse
- Recurrent sadness or depression
- Resistance to feedback
- Resistance to change
- Reduction in meaningful work product
- Reduced job satisfaction
- Increase in citizen complaints” (lexipol.com)
There are a few self care tools that police officers can put into effect that would help them manage their stress and burn out. One of these self care tools is to have a life outside of law enforcement. This includes making sure that they make time for their friends, family, children and significant others. They should not let work consume their lives by thinking about what happened during the work day when they clock out from their shifts. It could also be something as simple as doing an activity that they enjoy doing such as hiking, biking, running, swimming, working out, etc. Another self care tool they could implement is developing good physical health habits. This includes things like eating a balanced meal, making sure they get enough sleep and not just getting their physical activity during the work hours. A final tool they could use is practicing meditation and mindfulness. I do not work in law enforcement currently and I use meditation and mindfulness to decompress from my long school days at work.
In conclusion, there are many ways that police officers could practice self care to decompress from their stressful and sometimes traumatic work days. Using these tips and tools would be beneficial for them both inside and outside the work place because they will feel more relaxed and not as stressed out, burned out, or tired all the time.