Research Paper
Edna Rodriguez
Liberty University
CJUS 620
Kristin Ford
December 10, 2023
Abstract
Police Officers are more likely to encounter traumatizing situations, which increases their risk of
developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This essay will examine the most recent studies on
police officers post-traumatic stress disorder and its potential consequences. Anxiety and depression,
thoughts of suicide, and other health issues are a few of the variables that will be examined. Along with
a thorough examination of the coping strategies used by police, this article will also discuss general
public social support. Since many officers suffer from PTSD, it is critical that this topic be further
developed. Given the increasing prevalence of this diagnosis, law enforcement organizations must make
resources available to their officers. It is vital to educate new police officers on the symptoms and signs
of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Introduction
A police officer has a wide range of duties and responsibilities. People see police as both public
servants and adversaries of crime. Officers struggle to navigate hierarchical workplace systems in
addition to the stress of dealing with the public (Trombka et al., 2021). Numerous other workplace
stressors, including racism, sexism, poor communication, and irregular shift work, may also be
encountered by police officers (Trombka et al., 2021). Posttraumatic stress disorder may develop as a
result of ongoing stressors (Brunault, 2019).
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders lists avoidance, reliving, and
hyperarousal as symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (Chopka et al., 2021). According to Chopka
et al. (2021) avoidance can take various forms, such as avoiding locations linked to the traumatic
event(s), avoiding people, and distancing yourself from people and activities in your immediate
environment. Reexperiencing can manifest as nightmares that keep you awake at night or as though
you're living through the traumatic event again (Chopka et al., 2021). Finally, reminiscing about being
hypervigilant during everyday activities or having difficulty falling and staying asleep are examples of
hyperarousal (Chopka et al., 2021). While everyone experiences stress in their daily lives, police officers
are particularly susceptible to it because of traumatic events that happen during their routine duties and
require them to respond in order to fulfill their civic duty, as agreed upon (Linebach & Kovacsiss, 2016).
43.6% of officers in a study by Lee et al. (2016) reported having PTSD. This statistic demonstrates that
nearly half of police officers in law enforcement agencies will experience post-traumatic stress disorder.
According to Brunault (2019), officers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are
frequently exposed to traumatic events, including assaults, as well as extreme suffering.
Understanding Stress
It can be helpful to further the concept of stress by breaking it down into three categories of
events. According to Linebach and Kovacsiss (2016), there are three types of events: explosive incidents,
implosive incidents, and corrosive incidents. Events that are explosive include ongoing criminal activity
and natural disasters (Linebach & Kovacsiss, 2016). Internal conflicts known as implicit incidents can
result from disparities in beliefs and actions (Linebach & Kovacsiss, 2016). Incidents that cause corrosion
gradually accumulate within an officer. Examples of corrosive incidents include minor irritations that
cause an officer to become irritated over time (Linebach & Kovacsiss, 2016). Given that police officers
are subjected to two distinct types of traumatic events, it is important to assess the stress that they
experience on a regular basis. These two forms include being the target of threats from others and
seeing other people suffer harm (Chopka et al., 2021). Although there are other subtopics of stress as
well, these are the two that are employed in the study.
Depression and Anxiety
According to the World Health Organization (World Health Organization, n.d.), depression is
characterized by a persistent sense of sadness and a lack of interest in previously exciting or interesting
things. Police officers are more likely than the general public to experience anxiety and depression
(Trombka et al., 2021). Police officers who have low self-esteem at the beginning of their career are
more likely to experience depressive symptoms, which will only serve to feed the cycle of increasing
depressive symptoms (Wang et al., 2010).
Addictions
Alcohol addiction is the type of addiction that will be discussed in this section. Although there
are numerous other potential addictions, alcohol addiction is being addressed because it is highly likely
or an officer experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder to become addicted to alcohol
(Brunault, 2019). PTSD is frequently present in police officers who are hospitalized as a result of alcohol
use (Brunault, 2019). Moreover, PTSD frequently makes addictive disorders more severe (Brunault,
2019). Researchers found a strong correlation between heavy drinking and poorer mental health in a
study on police officers in the United Kingdom (Stevelink et al., 2020). This is especially concerning
because so many officers deal with stressful situations on a daily basis. According to Stevelink et al.
(2020), the study also revealed that 42% of the officers who had experienced a traumatic event in the
previous six months reported drinking more alcohol
Suicidal Ideation
Police officers' mental health is a major concern, but there isn't much data on how different
agencies and roles relate to each other (Di Nota et al., 2020). According to recent research on Canadian
public safety workers, PTSD, other mental health issues, and suicidal thoughts, including plans and
attempts, are significantly more common among police department personnel (Di Nota et al., 2020).
Suicidal thoughts and actions are more likely to occur when traumatic situations are repeatedly
encountered (Di Nota et al., 2020). A survey of 326 civilian employees and 1936 sworn-in members was
conducted by Di Nota et al. in 2020. According to Di Nota et al. (2020), there is a significant relationship
between the likelihood of suicidal ideation among sworn in employees and higher scores for the
assessed mental disorder. Three factors usually contribute to a suicide attempt: pain that triggers
suicidal thoughts, a lack of social connection that intensifies the planning for suicide, and finally, a
genuine ability to die as a result of possessing a weapon (Di Nota et al., 2020).
Health Problems
Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can lead to a wide range of health issues. "The risk of PTSD was
closely associated with the severity of the injury, working conditions, marital status, history of mental
disorder or occurrence of psychiatric symptoms at the time of the event, personality, interpersonal
relationship, etc." (pg. 5) according to a paper by Lee et al. (2020). This essay will examine issues with
memory and cognitive function, as well as issues with sleeping and other health issues. In a research by
Bisson et al. (2021), thirty officers with pre-existing PTSD diagnoses were matched with an officer of the
same sex and age who was not diagnosed with the disorder. Additional testing that compared the two
officers to one another revealed that the officer with a confirmed diagnosis of PTSD had lower cognitive
function scores (Bisson et al., 2021). Most notably, Bisson et al. (2021) found that the lower cognitive
abilities included poorer verbal learning and memory as well as lower executive cognitive abilities.
The cop with PTSD's lexical ability is another aspect examined in this study. The officer with
PTSD demonstrated poorer lexical abilities, according to the results (Bisson et al., 2021). Because they
are essential to language comprehension, lexical ability skills are significant in day-to-day functioning
(Nation, 2013). Thus, it can be concluded that officers who recognize various verbiage that must occur
during their regular shifts in order to properly interact with other officers, have a higher lexical level.
Sleeping issues are another medical condition that is frequently linked to PTSD (Chopka, 2021).
Regarding the various symptoms that are frequently linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an
individual who experiences more symptoms, such as nightmares that recreate the traumatic event, will
likely experience recurrent sleep disturbances (Chopka et al., 2021). Individuals experiencing this
particular PTSD symptom may also attempt to avoid sleeping out of a fear of possibly experiencing a
nightmare in which they relive the incident (Chopka et al., 2021) Hyperarousal, a primary PTSD
symptom, can, however, have varying effects on sleep. Because the body is in such a state of conflict,
hyperarousal can interfere with a person's ability to fall asleep, which can have an impact on their sleep
(Chopka et al., 2021). An additional way to describe this state of conflict is as a state of threat
anticipation, which can last for years after the traumatic event (Chopka et al., 2021). This phenomenon
may arise from elevated stress levels that trigger a fear response akin to the flight-or-fight response
(Chopka et al., 2021). High blood pressure can also result from hyperarousal in PTSD sufferers (Chopka
et al., 2021). A person's heart rate may also be impacted (Chopka et al., 2021). This results from an
increase in norepinephrine release brought on by hyperarousal. One hormone that influences your fight-
or-flight response is norepinephrine (Norepinephrine, 2022).
Coping Mechanisms
When faced with PTSD symptoms, police officers typically turn to various sources of support.
Several substances, such as alcohol, caffeine, or nicotine use, may be among them (Lee et al., 2020). As a
coping strategy, it is crucial to establish environments in police departments where officers feel at ease
discussing any PTSD symptoms they may be having with a professional (Di Nota et al., 2020). Resilience
training is an additional coping strategy that police departments should offer to their staff (Di Nota et al.,
2020). Training tailored to the unique occupational hazards of being a police officer is another coping
strategy that may be used (Di Nota et al., 2020). These could be of great assistance to police officers,
and if they were put into practice, the agency might witness a decline in the severity of mental health
issues, such as suicide ideation, among its personnel (Di Nota et al., 2020). The Support Post Trauma
(SPoT) program is one particular approach to a healthy coping mechanism (Foley & Massey, 2018, pg. 6).
A crisis intervention program called SPoT was developed to assist a police officer who had experienced a
traumatic event (Foley & Massey, 2018). Trauma Risk Management (TriM) is the name of another
comparable program (Foley & Massey, 2018). According to Foley and Massey (2018), the TRiM program
depends on a peer support system and an assessment conducted three days after a traumatic incident
to determine whether the police officer needs to be referred to a specialist. Rather than sending
everyone involved in the traumatic situation to a specialist, the TRiM program evaluates each person to
determine who needs to see one (Foley & Massey, 2018). This sets it apart from other programs.
Social Support
As a compromise between a traumatic event and the disorder, social support has been linked to
a lower level of PTSD (Frapsauce et al., 2022). According to the findings of a study conducted by
Frapsauce et al. in 2022, police officers generally do not feel that they have a lot of social support or that
their work is given enough credit. Nonetheless, the research did demonstrate that police officers derive
meaning from their work. Police officers who feel they have little social support after a traumatic event
are more likely to exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Frapsauce et al., 2022).
Christian Worldview
For individuals with PTSD and their families, it can change their lives. Although each person's
recovery from PTSD is unique, the cornerstone of recovery is ultimately hope and faith in God.
Recovering and moving forward depend greatly on maintaining a constant faith in God. Although the
Bible does not directly address PTSD, we can apply it to the disorder by learning from the experiences of
biblical characters. Paul mentions the "Thorn" in his flesh in 2 Corinthians 12. According to Paul, after
pleading with the Lord three times to remove the thorn, God responded, "My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness" (English Standard Version Bible, 2001, 2 Corinthians 12:9)
with this statement. Paul goes on to say that he will boast in his weaknesses because Christ's power is
made perfect in his weaknesses. Paul states in 2 Corinthians 12:10 that he is content to face challenges
and adversity because they strengthen him when he is weak (English Standard Version Bible, 2001).
Because Paul was so devoted to the path he was on, we can use these verses to help those who are
dealing with PTSD. Even though he was in constant pain, he knew that God would be glorified in the
midst of any suffering. James 1:2-4, which states that we should be grateful for trials and tribulations
because we know that they strengthen our faith in Christ, is another verse that is relevant to this topic
(English Standard Version Bible, 2001, James1:2-4).
Conclusion
Both the civilian and law enforcement communities can benefit from this topic. This topic's
analysis is crucial for the law enforcement community because it highlights the serious risks that police
work poses to an officer's mental health. Coping strategies, both positive and negative, should be known
to police officers. Too many police officers use addiction as a coping method for symptoms of post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that they do not even acknowledge as such. It's critical to continue the
discussion in assessments of the topic by examining the curricula of the nation's police academies and
determining whether or not officers are receiving training on PTSD symptoms.
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