Abstract
Police officers have a significantly shorter life expectancy than the general population. Vehicle accidents, suicide, and homicide, along with poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and sleep deprivation contribute to reduced life expectancy among police officers. The failure to recognize and treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is associated with an increased risk of suicide in association with concurrent depression. Police officers have an elevated risk of PTSD because many police officers are exposed to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence, both as risks to themselves and as threats to the community members they serve. Identifying PTSD and providing effective treatment is crucial to preventing negative outcomes for law enforcement officers. Efforts to encourage community policing that is sensitive to the needs of the community will, to a degree, fail without effective identification and treatment of PTSD in law enforcement officers.
Recommended Citation
Stephen M. Soltys,
Officer Wellness: A Focus on Mental Health,
40
S. Ill. U. L.J.
439
(2016).
Available at:
https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/siulj/vol40/iss3/4