{"id":3220,"date":"2025-12-05T06:09:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T11:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/?p=3220"},"modified":"2025-12-05T06:09:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T11:09:32","slug":"why-do-mental-health-issues-and-care-make-people-shy-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/2025\/12\/05\/why-do-mental-health-issues-and-care-make-people-shy-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do Mental Health Issues and Care Make People Shy Away?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why Do Mental Health Issues and Care Make People Shy Away?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I remember a civilian colleague of mine telling our Chief that she had PTSD, and she said his whole attitude toward her changed. She said it was within short order that she found management treating her differently, and before long, she was being encouraged to go out on retirement. At the time, I pondered why he would be so reactive. This was the softest-spoken person I had ever worked with; she never presented as threatening, unstable, or dangerous. So why would we be so ignorant toward a great colleague? What is it about mental health that makes people so hesitant? It\u2019s not like you can catch PTSD, schizophrenia, or most other DSM-5-TR diagnoses. To be fair, there was a major study in Finland that showed that adolescents who associated with peers with mental illness had a higher risk of developing mental illness, particularly eating disorders and anxiety (Alho et al., 2024). However, if mental health disorders were contagious in the way we think of a contagion, then nearly all practicing therapists would be suffering from a host of conditions.<\/p>\n

So, are people afraid of mental health issues because it\u2019s an unknown, we don\u2019t understand it and we are leery of what we don\u2019t understand? Is that, I wondered, why we shy away from mental health care? I initially pursued a consideration of why do people in America shy away from mental health care<\/em>, but I learned in my research that internationally, even in European countries, people don\u2019t seek care when they need it (Mental Health Million Project, 2021). This entire idea made me wonder why, in this day and age, do we still have so much aversion to seeking help?<\/p>\n

Mental Health Million Project conducted a survey of 10 countries, and their findings included:<\/p>\n

Over 50% of those with clinical level mental health risks do not seek help. The major reasons are not knowing what kind of help to seek, thinking that it won\u2019t make a difference, and a preference for self-help.<\/em><\/p>\n

The researchers concluded that stigma was not the only defining issue. Therefore, stigma is not the only issue interfering with criminal justice professionals seeking help. It suggests that even if someone is willing to seek help, they may not know where to start.<\/p>\n

Take for example, a colleague who has been exposed to a serious traumatic event at work. If I were to be in a supportive role, and they were willing to seek care, I would still need to help that individual identify a care provider who specializes in trauma treatment. So, I set out to find a therapist in our area who specializes in trauma care. Even in this day of the internet, here is what I found:<\/p>\n

A counselor who says she takes contracts from the Veterans Administration. She has a friendly website, speaks about realizing the limited support for law enforcement after her nephew joined the San Jose (California) Police Department. She mentions she isn\u2019t a liberal and is a certified range instructor. Already, my skepticism kicks in, and I am thinking, \u201cshe\u2019s trying too hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the next question is, do I give her contact information to my colleague, do I try to vet her myself first\u2026what the heck? So, in reality, I am stuck, and I am just trying to figure out how to help my colleague. I am not currently in a mental health crisis, I am not facing trauma or worried about my career if I seek help, none of that.<\/p>\n

So after going through this exercise, I can see why people don\u2019t know what type of help to seek, and to be skeptical about it working. I became skeptical about the therapist who wants me to believe she can hang with cops. No disrespect to her, I am just being candid about my own bias!<\/p>\n

Therefore, we have layers of obstacles when seeking mental health care as a criminal justice professional. There is a hesitancy to admit the need for help, because there is stigma in the general population about mental health, and an added layer of stigma for those in law enforcement and any service field for that matter (i.e., corrections, social work, domestic violence shelters, health care, etc.). If one finds the courage to get past that and decide to seek help, where does one start? Look for a specific type of mental health professional? Then do they take insurance? Or does one go with an Employee Assistance Program referral? Then, does one follow through and call the mental health clinician? Show up and put all of the problems out to a stranger and hope they are able to understand the work and how to help?<\/p>\n

I look at this way, we are having the conversations about how to effect change in the industry. How do we destigmatize seeking mental health care? Even on an international level, we have a long way to go. We have come a long way in the past 20 years, but certainly, there is a journey ahead.<\/p>\n

By the way, I emailed the therapist who is a gun-toting, cussing, conservative who wants to work with law enforcement. In a brief email, I told her about how important this topic is to me, and that I am seeking to build my professional network as I am interested in pursuing long-term solutions in the industry. My first thought was, is she going to vet me before she even responds? Stay tuned\u2026<\/p>\n

References:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alho, J., Gutvilig, M., Niemi, R., Komulainen, K., B\u00f6ckerman, P., Webb, R. T., Elovainio, M., & Hakulinen, C. (2024). Transmission of Mental Disorders in Adolescent Peer Networks. JAMA Psychiatry (Chicago, Ill.)<\/em>, 81<\/em>(9), 882\u2013888. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1001\/jamapsychiatry.2024.1126<\/a><\/p>\n

Sapien Labs. (2021). Mental Health has Bigger Challenges Than Stigma.<\/em> Mental Health Million Project. Retrieved from: https:\/\/mentalstateoftheworld.report\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rapid-Report-2021-Help-Seeking.pdf<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why Do Mental Health Issues and Care Make People Shy Away? I remember a civilian colleague of mine telling our Chief that she had PTSD, and she said his whole attitude toward her changed. She said it was within short order that she found management treating her differently, and before long, she was being encouraged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25583,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","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\/3220"}],"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\/25583"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3220"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3225,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220\/revisions\/3225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}