Police unions seek recognition of PTSD as workplace illness

Post traumatic stress support group born from death of Hamilton police officer
Police unions seek recognition of PTSD as workplace illness
Hamilton Spectator
By Bill Dunphy
June 27, 2014

For the past five weeks a very small, self-selected group of Hamilton police officers has been gathering in secret to share experiences of debilitating pain, fear, isolation and withdrawal.

The officers are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and for once, and finally, they're talking about it — getting help and helping each other.

It is perhaps fitting, that the Hamilton Employees Lifeline Peer Network (HELP-Net) should rise from a community shocked and torn by the very public death by suicide of Staff Sergeant Ian Matthews last December in the locker-room at police headquarters.

"It was never meant to memorialize or condone what Ian did, but to use it as a catalyst," Sergeant Helena Pereira explained, pointing out she doesn't even know if the popular detective had been suffering from PTSD.

The peer group — which is being supervised by mental health professionals from the Homewood Health Centre — is being funded by the Blarney Run, an annual fundraising effort by Matthews' friends and family that is meant to memorialize Matthews.

Pereira said Matthews's death and the public reactions seem to have helped crack open the traditionally closed police subculture, giving officers permission to come forward and admit their struggles.

"Police are so tight-lipped," Pereira said. "You have to be so calm. It all has to stay inside. You don't want to show any emotion. There's a stigma around asking for help."

But in the aftermath of that December death, many officers did just that — showed their emotion, admitted seeking and needing help.
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