People who hold positions in law enforcement are not alone in dealing with a multitude of work related stressors. \u00a0However, those working in a law enforcement capacity can more frequently be exposed to traumatic situations. \u00a0It is how a particular person is able to deal with these experienced traumatic situations that will determine the ultimate longevity \u00a0of their career. \u00a0In the past, police departments did not place as \u00a0much effort into the mental well being of their officers as they do now.<\/p>\n
The implementation of critical incident stress debriefings (CISD) and peer support groups have changed the ways officers can deal with stress and exposure to trauma. \u00a0Prior to the recent push in ensuring the mental well being of officers, officers would deal with their stress \u00a0and experiences alone and on their own terms. \u00a0For example, officers could find themselves drinking more often than usual, \u00a0 becoming agitated more easily, isolate from their family, experience moodiness, have trouble sleeping or concentrating, \u00a0and also experience other physical ailments that could be attributed to dealing with stress or trauma. \u00a0As the use of CISDs and peer support groups continues to increase, officers now have a start to dealing with their stress and trauma without having to internalize it and deal with it alone. \u00a0CISDs and peer support groups allow officers who have experienced traumatic events the time to discuss with other officers the event and their individual actions along with the reasons they acted as they did.<\/p>\n
In order for law enforcement officers to \u00a0remain at the top of their game they must be aware of both their physical and mental health. \u00a0While many departments provide gyms for officers to work out and maintain their physical health, the discussion about mental health well being has been hidden behind closed doors and not really discussed until recently. \u00a0As time progresses more and more law enforcement agencies across the country are implementing employee assistance programs, CISD teams, and peer support groups to further benefit officers. \u00a0These programs provide access to resources in order for officers to maintain a healthy mental \u00a0state and to assist in the processing of traumatic experiences that happen while on duty.<\/p>\n
There has long been stigma associated with mental health illness both in law enforcement and the general population. \u00a0The education regarding mental health illness it’s treatment is vital in the reduction of attached stigmas. \u00a0Within law enforcement, officers fear losing their job, losing their ability to carry a weapon, or be transferred within a department to a different position. \u00a0These fears although real possibilities can prove beneficial to an officer’s healing process after a traumatic experience where one feels the effects of PTSD. \u00a0It is imperative for law enforcement agencies to continue educating officers and department managers in the importance of seeking mental well being as much as physical well being. \u00a0Mental well being can be sought both through self-care and reaching out to others for help. \u00a0In order for an officer to decide to use physical strength, \u00a0they must have the proper mind set to make such a decision and determine if that is the right course of action. \u00a0If one is not of the proper mindset, they may jump to an irrational decision creating the potential for discipline that could have been avoided. \u00a0The awareness that officers possess in regards to their own self both mentally and physically is extremely important to performing their duties to the best of their ability and creating the safest mind set to perform such duties.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Davis, Joseph A. 1998.\u00a0Providing Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) to Individuals and \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Communities.\u00a0<\/em>The american Academy of experts in Traumatic Stress, Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" People who hold positions in law enforcement are not alone in dealing with a multitude of work related stressors. \u00a0However, those working in a law enforcement capacity can more frequently be exposed to traumatic situations. \u00a0It is how a particular person is able to deal with these experienced traumatic situations that will determine the ultimate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13235,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13235"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions\/144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}