Cultural Influences and Expectations Surrounding Mental Health

The police culture has been described as a culture of fear and intimidation when an officer experiences PTSD and attempts to seek mental health assistance because officers do not talk about these topics, making the police culture a catalyst for trauma, preventing officers from seeking assistance (Hakik & Langlois, Salus Journal, 8: 117–151, 2020). The law enforcement profession has a long-standing, unspoken tradition that has created a mentality that one does not talk about the job’s difficulties or the psychological problems it brings, creating a code of secrecy surrounding police mental illness and increasing physical and mental health problems for officers, including suicide. As the suicide rates of law enforcement officers continue to increase, leadership is called upon to prevent this crisis from continuing. Officers are taught in their academies to run towards danger, ignore pain, and focus on threats. At work this strategy works well; however, officers may not be aware of how their jobs impact their own mental health and the mental health of their families. Using Gestalt and Feature-Intensive Processing, officers can identify what strategies are effective at work. They can also identify what cognitive changes lead to healthier responses both at home and at work. Ultimately, these cognitive changes may in turn reduce the chances of burnout, vicarious trauma, and PTSD. Many strategies to reduce the stigma surrounding seeking professional psychological help and promoting mental wellness are suggested in this chapter.