Mental Health Challenges of Police Officers – Reason for Committing Acts of Misconduct?

Police officers see humanity at its best and its worst. Besides minor traffic accidents, they are witnesses to felonies as well. All of this can influence a police officer’s mental health. It doesn’t even have to be a serious mental health illness. But some symptoms can regularly pop up in that line of work.

But can the state of their mental health impact how they act and behave in certain situations? Can they still perform their duties rationally?

That is why we’re here to discuss. What’s more, we’ll dive deeper into some of the most common mental health challenges that members of the law enforcement face nowadays.

Common Mental Health Disorders among Police Officers

Generally speaking, the following are considered to be the mental health disorders that most frequently come up in policemen and policewomen:

• Disorders caused by trauma
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Disorders caused by use is substances

Even if they don’t develop PTSD, trauma-related disorders are a common thing. They can manifest as anxiety attacks, sleeping and eating disorders, trouble while breathing, and many more. These disorders vary from one officer to another and it all depends on their coping mechanisms as well as their previous experiences and stability of mental health. Click here for more information on how an eating disorder can affect teens.

Being a victim of a traumatizing event or participating in a series of such situations may lead to the developing of PTSD in members of law enforcement. If suitable help isn’t sought, the situation can worsen.

To easily get over a traumatic event, police officers may try ‘self-medication’. That’s very wrong as it can result in a cloud of judgment and eventually police misconduct when dealing with a suspect.

Dealing with the Disorders

Police officers shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help. Whether it’s from family, friends, and loved ones or professionals, it’s important to speak up and to let them know of the situation.

If a particular officer feels an urgent need of help, then they may call the help hotlines. There are numerous lifeline programs out there that offer a wide plethora of services that will aid officers in dealing with their mental health challenges. Some of these services may include treatments with experienced therapists, health plans, and other kinds of assistance.

Recap

Police conduct can manifest itself in many forms and types. In general, it stands for the illegal behavior of a police officer.

And, understandably, this can sometimes be a result of an officer facing challenges with their mental health. PTSD, disorders caused by trauma or substances are all factors that can provoke the officer to use excessive force when the event doesn’t require that.

Regardless, the police misconduct act would be committed. And victims should ask for legal help from police misconduct lawyers about dealing with this type of misconduct. For example, one database for professional attorneys is USAttorneys.com.