OFFICERS\u2019 mental health has been like a \u2018pressure cooker\u2019 due to the stresses of policing the pandemic and fears that they would pass on COVID-19 to their families.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation said officers in the region have been under immense stress dealing with COVID rule-breakers, protecting their communities and trying to impose and explain ever-changing rules and regulations, all while striving to keep themselves and their families safe from the virus.<\/p>\n
It is the likely reason behind a new report revealing two-thirds of officers across the country had reported worsening mental health symptoms, the Federation said.<\/p>\n
The dossier from mental health charity Mind also showed that most officers were terrified of passing the deadly virus onto family and loved ones.<\/p>\n
A lack of quality time at home and proper rest has added to the potentially damaging mix.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said the report shows how vital it is for officers to talk to each other and share their worries with their Federation.<\/p>\n
He explained: \u201cIt has been a challenging year, and we\u2019ve seen and heard from a lot more of our colleagues who are struggling, and we\u2019ve referred probably more people than usual to our in-house counselling team and services.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that\u2019s just crept up. Initially, with the lockdown, many people thought that COVID was potentially going to kill many more officers than thankfully it has, so it\u2019s not had that kind of impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven so, people were genuinely scared, now that\u2019s been replaced by officers feeling they\u2019ve worked through all of this but without the downtime, without quality leave, without the chance to unwind on rest days.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been like a pressure cooker, and our concern is with everything that\u2019s going to happen in the next six months, leave will be at a premium.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Steve hopes that officers will be able to take some leave before the \u2018perfect storm\u2019 of the summer kicks in once the country begins to \u2018unlock\u2019. He also wants officers to keep talking about their mental health.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI\u2019m worried about the next six months, and I\u2019ve discussed this with the force and made my thoughts known. We\u2019ve got a bit of a perfect storm looming here, so we need to start trying to get our officers as much leave as much as possible, which is going to be very difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf officers are worried about themselves or a mate is, speak to supervisors, talk to each other, get in touch with a local Rep.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have things we can use like the welfare support programme from the Defence Medical Welfare Service which may be suited to those suffering from mental health traumas or officers can go through a local Fed Rep.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr they can come to us in the office; there are things we can do, services we can potentially offer and programmes through the group insurance scheme and the services through the force.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main hurdle for officers is for them to pluck up the courage to say, \u2018hang on a minute, I\u2019m not okay\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you get through that barrier, there are plenty of things in place to try and give you that support. It might just be letting off steam or recharging the batteries.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven people who historically might have been reluctant to talk about things they\u2019re actually coming to us or speaking to each other now telling us that they\u2019re not well.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo while it\u2019s not good that they\u2019re not well, it\u2019s good that they are starting to find the courage to come out and say it.\u201d<\/p>\n