Page 42 - September 2019 FOP Newsletter

Mental Health and Wellness Support
A
A
A
A
A r
r
r
re
e
e
e
es
s
s
s
o
o
o
o
ou
u
u
u
r
r
r
r
c
c
c
ce
e
e
e
e g
g
g
g
u
u
u
ui
i
i
i
i
d
d
d
d
de
e
e
e
e f
f
f
f
f
o
o
o
o
or
r
r
r
r C
C
C
C
C
Ch
h
h
h
h
i
i
i
i
i
c
c
c
c
c
c
a
a
a
a
a
ag
g
g
g
g
g
g
go
o
o
o
o L
L
L
L
L
L
Lo
o
o
o
o
od
d
d
d
d
dg
g
g
g
e
e
e
e
e 7
7
7
7
m
m
m
m
me
e
e
em
m
m
m
mb
b
b
b
be
e
e
e
er
r
r
s
s
s
s
s
s
A message from EAP
Professional Counseling Division CPD Employee Assistance Program
312-743-0378
Widely trained clinicians and addiction counselors available 24/7/365
Peer Support Team
312-743-0378
The peer support team includes 300 officers who have taken a 40-hour training
Call for help
A daily dose of mental health
Each month, the Professional Counseling Division of the Department’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides a message to promote better mental health for officers. This month, Dr. Robert Sobo, director of the Professional Coun- seling Division, discusses the need for Chicago Police Officers to make attending to their mental health and wellness a daily practice.
You know about the significant issues with law enforcement officers and suicide. And those who have to go to drug and al- cohol rehab. And those who are suffering from post-traumatic stress. You’ve heard all sorts of numbers, especially regarding the number of officers who are taking their own lives.
All those numbers are incorrect. Because one is too many. The point is, why is this happening?
Remember when officers thinking about suicide was just a
checkmark? Now, we talk about it a lot. But we need to be doing
ensure safety. Ensuring your emotional well-being will improve your judgment, reaction time and ability to process information appropriately.
This is why officers need to be checking to see how they are doing emotionally every day. The daily check can include ques- tions like:
Am I sleeping OK?
Am I more agitated, angry or anxious?
Are there any changes in myself that I’m aware of?
Ask people close to you if they notice any changes. Question
whether work has been more stressful than usual or whether you have been involved in any incidents that have made you feel angry or sad. What emotional reactions have you had and what did you do with those emotions?
If you notice any of these issues, try to talk it out with a col- league, a peer support member in your district or a family mem- ber. If that doesn’t work, come to our unit for a debriefing or to get some counseling.
Please note that attending to your mental health and well- ness daily is not something you have to do alone. Things are so busy out on the street and there is so much pressure from differ- ent directions – work life, family life and community relations.
As part of making emotional well-being a daily practice, the Professional Counseling Division is doing mandatory training for all supervisors on all of these topics. It’s important that su- pervisors know how to model emotional well-being, how to support officers in their well-being and how to make sure their officers get the help and support from EAP to assure their well- ness.
It’s important to do it because emotional well-being impacts physical well-being and the quality and longevity of life. So you have to find ways to calm your mind and body, to relax and en- joy life and not be hypervigilant.
No one is immune to the impact of this job or the potential consequences. Nothing is normal about what you see, about what you experience. You have a place to go where everything is privileged and confidential to work through it. Don’t bring it home and don’t bring it to the district where other officers are watching modeled behavior that is not calming.
When you do talk, model healthy behavior. Do it daily. Re- member, you have permission to be a human being.
more than talking about symptoms that lead to
m
suicide. If we are talking about what somebody
s
l
l
ooks like when they are suicidal, we’re too late.
o
Why are we allowing sister and brother officers
W
o get to the point of feeling so desperate that the only way to get out of it is to take their own lives?
So this is a challenge to open your eyes and be more receptive to police officers on the job who are feeling suicidal, suffering from traumas and suffering from drug and alcohol abuse. What are you doing about this? What are you doing to model healthy behavior and change the culture?
You know, in the district, the biggest mouth says, “Don’t go for help. You will lose your FOID card.” What if there is an officer who is listening, and needs some help and hears that? The of- ficer doesn’t feel safe and withdraws because that is the culture in your district. It dictates fear, anxiety and mistrust. In this de- partment, that is a killer.
You have to decide if you want to drive the bus or hang out in the back. That’s what this is about: making mental health and wellness a daily practice. It sounds so simple. But if it were sim- ple, we wouldn’t have these problems.
How do we go about making mental health and wellness a daily practice? To start, think of it this way: Law enforcement officers check all of their gear and equipment every day before they go out on the beat to make sure they are in working order. They do this to save their lives.
What they don’t check regularly is how they are doing emo- tionally. Emotional well-being dictates decision-making, im- pulse-control and judgment. Emotional well-being affects how they make use-of-force decisions.
If this is compromised in any way, shape or form, your judg- ment is off, you are breathing too hard or your heart is beating too fast. If you want to make sure you are safe, this is the way to
t
to
42 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ SEPTEMBER 2019