MENTAL HEALTH


CLAIRE’S STORY In 2018, PC Claire was assaulted in an incident on duty, which ended her frontline policing career. In the immediate aftermath of the incident and continuing since then, Claire has experienced struggles with her mental health, including anxiety, physical trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “I always thought of mental health as something I helped people deal with in my job. Now it’s much more personal. It makes me feel uncomfortable and terribly guilty. I feel guilty about not being able to help my colleagues like I once did. I feel redundant as a police officer. I’ve just hit my 20 years in service and will be getting my long service medal in 2022, but it took me a while to accept that as I felt like an imposter. I miss the blue light runs, I miss talking to people, I miss helping others and making a difference. “But now it’s me who has had to


accept the help – and I have had to accept a lot of it. I still take medication to get through each day. I use worry dolls to assist me in going to sleep and keep my anxiety at bay. I certainly never imagined sitting my two youngest children down at the dinner table to show them a video on PTSD so that they could understand why Mummy sometimes wasn’t herself. But accepting this help and making these changes have made me feel like a better person. I feel as though I understand more about mental health and can look someone in the eyes and say ‘I know’ while really meaning it.


“Since returning to work right at


the start of the pandemic, I am more aware than ever before of the impact of mental health and wellbeing, not just on the public, but on police


officers and staff, who have worked throughout the pandemic despite their own circumstances and worries. I have worked closely with the Federation and we have taken great steps to ensure that the wellbeing of our colleagues is at the forefront of everything we do. We have introduced wellbeing conferences with different speakers,


including speakers from Mind, and occupational therapists, to reach out to all members of staff. We have also utilised our welfare van to conduct visits to all our police stations, giving out vital information to our colleagues about support available to them. “Without the support I received from my family, my friends and my Federation, I wouldn’t have made it to where I am now. There is no shame in asking for help. You are never alone; we are all in this together.”


PETE’S STORY Lincolnshire Police Sergeant Pete has been a frontline police officer for more than 20 years. In 2018, one horrific incident saw Pete experiencing serious mental health issues for the first time in his career. “As a police officer, I am expected to


deal with anything and everything life throws at the public, as well as dealing with my own life, and not let it bother me. “Over the past 21 years, I’ve been to murder scenes, fatal crashes, sudden deaths,


proverbial camel’s back. Suddenly, my mental health became an issue, albeit one I didn’t realise as being serious. I started to have severe flashbacks of the incident and began to suffer depression and anxiety, having panic attacks regularly. I ultimately prepared to take my own life. “The scariest thing was that I didn’t even recognise that I was suffering. Because of that, I became comfortable


help until it was almost too late. “I did eventually seek the help I needed. With medication, I can now function and have learned how to better deal with the horrendous incidents that my colleagues and I across the country deal with on a daily basis. “There is still a stigma attached to


“There is still a stigma attached to mental illness in policing – but we must change this”


suicides and domestic assaults, and numerous times I’ve been the one to tell a family that a loved one has been killed. Destroying multiple lives with one sentence. Each one of these incidents take a little bit of you. “In December 2018, I went to a fatal


crash, involving a teenage girl, which would be the straw that broke the


with the idea of suicide and managed to rationalise that my family and friends would be better off without me. “I can’t say it was just one thing that


caused my mental health illness, but more a multitude of occurrences over a number of years that eventually caught up with me. I was too proud to admit that I was ill, and too proud to seek any


mental illness in policing – but we must change this. PFEW are committed to doing all we can to help this change become a reality. It’s important for officers to feel comfortable about speaking out about the difficulties they are


facing with mental health and wellbeing. “If you are struggling with your mental


health or wellbeing, please reach out for support. There is always someone on hand to help you.”


If you are struggling in any way you can contact Mind on: www.mind.org.uk and 0300 123 3393


11 | POLICE | FEBRUARY 2022


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