OFFICERS must seek support if they\u2019re struggling, or refer their colleagues, South Yorkshire Police Federation said, after it emerged that more than three quarters of police officers had experienced mental health or wellbeing difficulties in the past year.<\/p>\n
The worrying figures were revealed in a report from the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), following a survey of 12,471 officers that asked about their experiences in policing the pandemic. It found that 69% of respondents linked \u2018work-related difficulties\u2019 to their distress and, of these respondents, 58% experienced work-related mental health and wellbeing difficulties and cited heavy workloads as a factor.<\/p>\n
But just one in five said they had asked for help, with 41% of those people saying they did not share the fact that they had received help with their line manager. This was because they did not want to be treated differently in the workplace \u2013\u00a0suggesting there is still a stigma surrounding mental health in policing.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said it was vital that officers who were struggling spoke up and seeked help from the Federation or force.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cSadly, it\u2019s quite rare that people will put their hands up themselves and say they\u2019re struggling. It tends to be, in our experience, a referral from a colleague or a concerned member of family or something close to them will say, \u2018Look, I\u2019m not happy about so and so, I\u2019m a bit worried about them\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s lovely, but we also need people to be more forthcoming, to come forward. We also encourage officers to continue to watch out for their colleagues<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have numerous avenues of support we can give officers if they come to us, from telephone counselling to in-person counselling. The force has increased its occupational health budget substantially as well, so we\u2019re going to be seeing more counsellors coming to the force.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween us we hope to give everybody the support that they need. But the biggest step is that people need to come forward or somebody needs to refer them to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
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