Beyond Blue survey of mental health in police and emergency services highlights major problems
Our police and emergency service workers are “deeply impacted”, both by the nature of the work that they do, and by the pressures of the environments in which they work, Beyond Blue’s alarming national survey reveals. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
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EXCLUSIVE: Police and other emergency service members are three times more likely to have a suicide plan than other adults.
A groundbreaking Beyond Blue national survey of police, fire, ambulance and SES staff and volunteers also revealed more than 123,000 of them have been diagnosed with mental health problems.
It showed 39 per cent of employees (about 45,200) and 33 per cent of volunteers (about 78,600) had been professionally diagnosed with a mental health condition, compared with 20 per cent of all adults in Australia.
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“The results are alarming,” Beyond Blue’s report on the Answering the call survey results stated.
“They paint a picture of a workforce which is deeply impacted, both by the nature of the work that they do, and by the pressures of the environments in which they work.
“These results must compel everyone to act.
“Beyond Blue remains committed to working with governments, agencies, unions, peak bodies and other key stakeholders to ensure that we learn from and translate these findings into action.”
Beyond Blue is today calling on the Federal Government to commit serious mental health support funding to ease the suffering of serving and former emergency service personnel.
As a show of support for the work Beyond Blue has done, police commissioners and senior representatives from other emergency service organisations around Australia will attend today’s launch of the report.
Beyond Blue’s survey of more than 21,000 serving and former emergency service members also revealed:
SEVENTY FIVE per cent of employees who had made a claim for psychological injury found the current workers’ compensation process to be detrimental to their recovery.
ELEVEN per cent of police have probable post-traumatic stress disorder, compared with an estimated 8 per cent in the Australian Defence Force and 4 per cent in adults in Australia.
ONE in three police and emergency service employees experience high or very high psychological distress, compared with one in eight Australian adults.
MORE than half the employees surveyed had experienced a traumatic event during the course of their work that deeply affected them.
POOR workplace practices and culture are equally debilitating as exposure to trauma.
EMPLOYEES who have worked more than 10 years in police and emergency services are almost twice as likely to experience psychological distress and six times more likely to have symptoms of PTSD than the general population.
TWENTY EIGHT per cent of police were verbally harassed or assaulted often or very often at work, compared with 18 per cent of ambulance employees and 4 per cent of fire and rescue workers.
ONE in four police, 13 per cent of ambulance employees and 4 per cent of fire and rescue workers were physically attacked or assaulted sometimes, often or very often.
Former Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay, who is chairman of the Answering the call advisory group, yesterday urged all agencies to embrace the survey findings and work with Beyond Blue to improve mental health across their organisations.
“The findings suggest a significant portion of police and emergency services personnel still have poor mental health literacy,” Mr Lay said.
“They aren’t recognising the signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety or PTSD in themselves.”
The study was funded by Beyond Blue with additional funding support from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre and the survey was conducted by the University of Western Australia in partnership with Roy Morgan Research.
Beyond Blue chief executive officer Georgie Harman said the 21,014 respondents answered questions during a 25 minute call about their wellbeing and resilience, anxiety conditions, depression, PTSD and suicidal thoughts.
“Never before have so many current and former police and emergency services personnel and volunteers been surveyed in such depth about their individual or organisational mental health,” Ms Harman said yesterday.
“The results will arm Beyond Blue with unprecedented national data which will be analysed and used to develop strategies and actions to reduce the mental health risks of police and emergency service personnel.”
The Beyond Blue report said the survey had produced Australia’s first detailed and accurate picture of mental health issues affecting police and other emergency service personnel.
“The absence of national data has created challenges in understanding the true extent of mental health issues in the sector,” it said.
“This has curtailed somewhat the basis for advocacy, for genuine reform and change. That barrier ends now.”
University of Western Australia Professor David Lawrence said the survey was by far the largest study of mental health and wellbeing ever to be undertaken among police and emergency services organisations in Australia and internationally.
Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre CEO Dr Richard Thornton said gathering the data required to make real changes, as the survey had done, was the first important step in making a difference to the mental health of emergency service workers.
The report found most personnel did not hold stigmatising attitudes to their colleagues, with a very low number believing that mental health conditions are the fault of the individual experiencing them (1 per cent) or that those with mental health conditions are a burden on others (2 per cent).
“This is a compelling finding, and one that agencies can promote and celebrate to tackle stigma,” the report said.
“Conversely, however, the study found very high rates of self-stigma, such as the amount of shame respondents had about their mental health condition (33 per cent), the amount of burden they believe it causes those around them (32 per cent) and avoiding telling people about their mental health condition (61 per cent).
“Strategies to reduce stigma in police and emergency services agencies should remind personnel that their colleagues do not blame or resent them, while addressing the stigmatising attitudes that many hold about their own mental health.’
Recommendations made by Beyond Blue in its report include:
UNDER the leadership of the Australian Government, all governments — federal state and territory — should work together on a national policy approach and funded action plan which ensures adequate resourcing, and a co-ordinated and sustainable approach to reduce the high rates of psychological distress, PTSD and suicide behaviours, and to support workplace mental health and wellbeing in the police and emergency services sector.
THAT adequate funding is provided to police and emergency service agencies to enable the findings from this research to be embedded into their unique workplace mental health and wellbeing strategies.
THE Australian Government should lead the establishment of a funded national approach, implemented locally, to better support post-service employees and retirees form the police and emergency services workforce, including providing clinical and psychosocial services.
FUNDING appropriate staffing resources to enable agencies to respond to emergency events and manage workplaces to ensure no individuals or teams are regularly stretched beyond reasonable expectations and have time to implement healthy coping strategies after a traumatic event.
THE Australian Government should lead and fund the development of a national centre of excellence for police and emergency services mental health; a central hub of proven and emerging best practice interventions and programs.