Police stress can explain behavior

Cape Cod Times had a letter published defending police officers that offers one more way to understand military culture. While it is about police officers the troops have the same view about being "tough" and reluctant to seek help. The biggest problem is, the military is actually supporting the "tough" enough notion when they push resiliency training. This approach has been telling the troops they need to toughen their minds, in other words, they are not tough enough if they end up with PTSD.

Police stress can explain behavior

By RALPH F. CAHOON
August 30, 2011
I found it ironic that the Times chose to run its latest editorial (Aug. 28) bashing the police on the same day that local officers were risking their lives during a tropical storm to protect the rest of us.

The Times frequently lambastes police officers for improper actions, yet declines to discuss how the stresses of law enforcement affect the lives of officers. I hope this helps readers see another side of the story.

While most people understand that policing is a very difficult profession, few understand its impact on those who wear a badge. Officers are expected to perform professionally in horrific circumstances and control their emotions at all times.

As a 26-year police veteran, I know this isn't easy. My peers have had people attack and try to kill them; helplessly watched people burn up in fires; frantically performed CPR on lifeless babies; felt the squish of pooled blood beneath their feet at crime scenes; and scooped various body parts off the street. The impact of such incidents can be severe, and many officers turn to alcohol or sometimes even drugs to help them forget the ingrained images or recurring nightmares.

Indeed, it is estimated that alcoholism among officers is double the national average; the rates of officer suicide, divorce and domestic abuse in police families are also above normal; and 10 percent to 15 percent of officers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
read more here

Another aspect of PTSD is there are different levels of it but above that, there are also different types of it. Military and police work have men and women not just surviving traumatic events, but participating in them with force on a daily basis. While we can understand PTSD in the civilian world with one extreme event, they live through them over and over again topped off with the risk of "at any moment" it can happen again. Firefighters and emergency responders have another type of PTSD because of the horrors they encounter above civilians due to the pile up of events as well.

The very people we depend on the most should be applauded for seeking help since it is often the hardest thing they do, but when they are told their minds are just not trained to "take it" they believe it is their fault they have PTSD.