Breaking The Silence Of Mental Health In Policing
Officers are being asked to “break the silence” next week to discuss mental health and suicide prevention in policing, something that South Yorkshire Police Federation calls “a ticking time bomb”.
The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) is running a webinar called Breaking the Silence: Conversations about Mental Health and Suicide Prevention from 10.30am-12pm on 10 September, to mark World Suicide Prevention Day.
During the session, a Fed Rep will share his personal struggles with mental health and talk about how he has supported numerous members over the years. An officer will also talk about the impact of her antenatal depression, and Dr Jess Miller will encourage teams to cultivate a work environment that counteracts and addresses suicidal thought patterns.
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: “I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: mental health in policing is a ticking time bomb. The counsellor in our Federation office is full most of the time. We really, urgently need to look at mental health in police officers because the drip-drip effect of dealing with incidents day in, day out – compounded by the horrendous incidents last month – is breaking our officers.
“I keep talking to our officers who are breaking or are broken. People who I’ve always perceived to be really resilient people and you’re seeing them reduced to a shell.
“There’s absolutely no recognition of this by the Home Office, the public and the press – how dealing with death and violence on a daily basis absolutely crushes officers. The trauma suffered by frontline soldiers is recognised, while this isn’t. We need to get it out front and centre.”
Steve said he welcomed the PFEW webinar and that it addressed some important topics, but added: “There needs to be a fundamental change at Government level. There needs to be a serious injection of funds to go into regular checkups for officers, and resourcing to allow people to take time out. It’s got to be a radical change.”
He continued: “If you’re struggling, please reach out to the Federation and we can signpost you to help. It doesn’t have to be you: you might be concerned about your friend, colleague or supervisor. The reaching out is the hard bit. We and the force have so many services to offer. Everybody will have an avenue to go through. And we have helped people in the past, with some really good results.”