STRESS AWARENESS MONTH #LittleByLittle
PFEW Wellbeing co-lead Paul Williams touches on embracing emotional awareness and self-care when navigating stress in policing
Stress Awareness Month allows us to focus and think about all things - no matter how small -as well as what we can do to recognise and improve our mental wellbeing. We all know the term emotional awareness, but how many of us dig deep into the meaning of this. Emotional awareness creates good police officers, good leaders and good people. It also allows us to care for ourselves. I want to use this space
to raise this awareness and create some thought and reflection to help ourselves and each other.
This article may not be for
some and may not be agreeable by some. But if it reaches just one individual it has already made a difference. Given the issues and current state of policing, it becomes hard to recognise the dripping tap theory when attending job to job. This theory concentrates on the constant stressors in policing, drip feeding into us that by the time we notice any effects it can be too late, and impact on service and personal recovery can be severe. That said, the other side of this dripping
tap also needs recognition if we are to self-manage our mental health and stress. Recognising and taking just small steps of positivity and self-care every day can
08 | POLICE | APRIL | 2024
and self-debriefing can bring out how just a 30-minute meeting with a victim of crime or any interaction could bring out a very positive affect on that person. A majority of us will have a natural skill in communication and empathy. That one act to a person can have a profound effect on an individual, make a difference to their day and, a lot of the time, their quality of life. It’s hard to quantify these effects on individuals, but when someone says, ‘thank you’ and means it, expressing their real appreciation for that action you have taken can make you feel more positive. Despite cynicism saying we’ll never make a difference, that one act has already made
lead to good things and ripple into much greater resilience in our daily lives. But, like we find it difficult to recognise the negative dripping tap, we also overlook the positives we do and can do that really make a difference. We deal with people all the time in policing. So many cultures, personalities and perceptions throughout our career
“That one act to a person can have a profound effect on an individual, make a difference to their day and, a lot of the time, their quality of life.”
a difference to that person’s life. It is the ripple effect of those small, good deeds and, as we often do, going the extra mile has more of an effect on others than we think. Reflection can bring that out and you will probably realise you have done more good than you think. There’s a lot to be said for Betari’s Box on
mindtools.com. My attitude and behaviours affect your attitude and behaviours. It makes sense. Recognising and practising this can have a positive effect on your and other days. Another small action
daily we can take to make a positive difference is ensure that self-care.
Daily self-care - and it doesn’t have to be time consuming - just small actions to look forward to. We have all heard the term ‘me time’. There’s a lot to be said for that and small actions of selfishness regularly can have a huge difference in how we feel at the end of the day and also increase resilience.
This can be any act at all, physical or
mental, that makes you feel good and allows the body and mind to relax. Working towards this as a daily goal can really help in going into our rest days or leave feeling well, but also going back into the workplace with a readiness to take on the stressors of policing.
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