Requiring Mandatory Personal Mental Health and Stress Survival Training and Awareness for Peace Officers

Law enforcement officers are placed in critical incident situations on a daily basis throughout the entirety of their careers. These situations expose the officer to a wide variety of negativity and may have a critical impact on the lives of the officer, their co-workers, family members, and friends. Some of the issues that may arise from the negative effects that the officers are exposed to can include suicide, suicidal ideations, depression, anxiety, insomnia, relationship issues, weight gain or weight loss, behavioral issues, and many others. These negative effects can often go untreated, unnoticed, and ignored. Ultimately, when these issues and symptoms are left unresolved and unrecognized, the officer can be left in a desperate situation. This paper and research is aimed at encouraging law enforcement administrators and TCOLE to mandate both initial mental health awareness training in the police academy setting and to mandate ongoing continuing education on mental health awareness throughout the entirety of a peace officers career. Law enforcement places a great deal of training in the recognition of mental health issues in others but focuses very little on saving their own from the same perils of critical mental health issues.