Panel urges members to stop the stigma surrounding suicide
19 May 2022
‘We need to break that taboo and that stigma around suicide needs to go if we want to save lives’ is the clear message that came from the Fighting for your Lives session at this year’s annual conference.
The hard-hitting, emotional and powerful session, titled “Fighting for your lives” shined a light on the reality of officers taking their own lives, with Federation representatives urged to talk more openly about suicide, to make it more visible.
On the panel was former officer Ed Simpson who shared his own experience of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which resulted in him spiralling and ultimately considering taking his own life.
“I remember driving to work and thinking I wanted to kill myself. That should’ve been an irrational thought, but it was completely rational,” said Ed, who worked for both South and North Yorkshire Police.
“I actually hated myself because I was still alive.”
One week later, completely burnt out – both physically and mentally – Ed was diagnosed with shingles, which led to him visiting the doctor and being officially told he had PTSD, sparked by witnessing trauma after trauma during his career.
Ed spoke of one particular incident whereby he took a family to see their son in the morgue. He described how he will never get over the sound of the mother screaming when she saw her son. Little did he know, but this was the trigger event that would lead to his complex PTSD diagnosis years later.
Having been signed off work for a year, Ed received the devastating news that his salary would be docked to half-pay, leading to him feeling “totally worthless”.
“That same day, I fell out of love with policing,” said Ed, who returned back to work after 12 months, before medically retiring three years later.
“The journey to get there ruined me. I will never be the same again.”
Ed was joined by CEO Oscar Kilo Andy Rhodes QPM, Greater Manchester suicide prevention programme manager at the NHS Adele Owen QPM and facilitator of families against corporate killers at Greater Manchester Hazards Centre Hilda Palmer.
Hilda, who has conducted research on work-related suicide, explained her findings revealed 10 per cent of all suicides have a work-related component.
Adele, a former officer with Greater Manchester Police, said supervisors and managers need to be given suicide-prevention training.
“The word suicide isn’t being used enough, we always fall back on the phrases mental health and wellbeing. We need to break the stigma and we need to start being direct with people,” she said.
“The first thing we need to do, we need to talk about it, we haven’t been talking about it. We need to fight the taboo and that stigma needs to go if we want to save lives.”
Andy, who explained how Oscar Kilo is spending time working with national charity The Samaritans researching specific factors that are driving mental health issues, as well as how the force can better support loved ones who are bereaved following a suicide.
“What I want to point out is that eight or nine years ago, people wouldn’t have had the courage to stand up and talk about mental health. What we are seeing, people are more willing to speak out, especially young recruits,” he continued.
“We’re a long way off but we will get to a point where psychological risk and harm are treated the same as physical risk.
“Ultimately though, it’s the employer’s responsibility – the force’s responsibility - to support these people.”
Ed agreed, saying: “We need to give people the courage to ask others if they’re OK, because that person might be driving to work that morning, wishing they were dead.
“Welfare started at home, with colleagues and friends.”
