9 April 2021

Stress Awareness Month: Help is out there for officers who are struggling

April is #StressAwarenessMonth and Dorset Police Federation has outlined how help is out there for officers who are struggling.

During their careers, each police officer is likely to encounter between 400 to 600 traumatic events. Most citizens will experience between three or four in their lifetime.

Nationally, nearly 10,000 police officers took time off due to stress, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder in the past year.

PFEW’s January 2021 Demand, Capacity and Welfare Survey revealed that almost 80% of officers said they have struggled with their mental health and wellbeing over the past 12 months.

Anna Harvey, Chair of Dorset Police Federation, said: “Policing has changed some much over the years and the expectations and demands on officers has increased.

“Officers will now sadly deal with more traumatic events the ever. The reduction of policing numbers has exasperated this… fewer officers, resulting in them attending far more serious incidents. This has increased the levels of stress officers have to deal with.

“We can’t remove this but we can try and alleviate it and make sure we pick up those officers who are struggling to cope. There internal support networks and occupational health services that officers can access and the Federation Welfare Support Programme - but we need to ensure that officers are supported and encouraged to seek help, there is no stigma anymore.”

If you are struggling, please contact a Federation Representative or email office@dorset.polfed.org

Officers in need of support can also see more about the Mind Blue Light Programme here https://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/campaigns/blue-light-programme/

The Stress Management Society have also created a free Individual Stress Test https://www.stress.org.uk/individual-stress-test/ where individuals can receive a stress score and some personalised recommendations for managing this.