World Mental Health Day: Open up, reach out and talk

10 October 2022

Police Federation national wellbeing secretary Belinda Goodwin is  “urging all members to turn to their colleagues and ask them ‘how are you?’”.

In line with the annual World Mental Health Day, which this year is today (Monday 10 October), Belinda is encouraging police officers to open up, reach out and talk about how they are feeling.

Her comments come after research showed that emergency service workers are twice as likely as the general public to identify problems at work as the main cause of their mental health problems, and they are also significantly less likely to seek help.

“Although police officers are held to higher standards within our regulations, we need to remember that we are human beings too. We are exposed to 400 times more trauma than everyday civilians and, whether we like it or not, this will have an impact on our mental health,” said Belinda.

“We can’t lose sight of how impactful simply asking a colleague how they are, can be.

“We need to start having more meaningful conversations with our peers and that means, not just discussing our performance but welfare too. Supervisors should be asking their team, ‘how are you doing?’, ‘how is the family?’ and ‘how can we support you more?’

“Peer-to-peer support is also huge. We need to continue to provide members with that safe space to debrief with their colleagues, so they can talk through the incidents they have attended.”

This year’s World Mental Health Day is the first to follow the Covid-19 pandemic, a global crisis that had a huge impact on emergency services workers, with the police service being no exception.

In fact, research reveals that 66 per cent of police staff feel that their mental health has deteriorated following the pandemic, with 32 per cent admitting that they did not access support during this period.

“As we continue to recover following the Covid-19 pandemic, and the devastating impact this has had on so many of us, including our colleagues and their families, we need to really shine the light on our mental health and how forces can really support officers, as well as their loved ones,” Belinda added.

“Now, it’s more important than ever for forces to think about and implement support for our members, as well as their wives, husbands, sons and daughters. It’s time to start putting officers first, and to make sure we’re doing all we can to prevent them from breaking.”

Belinda continues to say that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ‘is a reality for officers’ and can often ‘lead to some using harmful substances and behaviours in order to cope and get through the day’.

“As a Federation, we have previously looked at the impact stress has on our officers as a whole, but with a real focus on how this can lead to substance and gambling abuse,” she added.

“If you feel that you are spiraling or are relying on these harmful behaviours to survive, and need help and support,

I would urge all of our members to reach out to the Federation.”
Hertfordshire Police Federation chair Luke Mitchell said officer welfare had always been at the front and centre of the branch’s work.

He said: “We are all aware of the issues facing policing but since taking over as branch chair I have told our members to put their health first and to make looking after their wellbeing their top priority. That’s all that matters to me and everything else can wait.

“Our members do a difficult job, often in challenging circumstances, and it is important that they know the Police Federation is here to help them if they ever feel in need of support or advice.

“We take their mental health extremely seriously and would urge them to come and speak to us about any concerns they might have.”

Al Wollaston, branch secretary added: “The Force needs to deliver on this and not just give it lip service with intranet links and stories. It’s all tick box and no real delivery and understanding how officers are.”

Find out more about World Mental Health Day.