MCR002 Organizational Behavior Time allowed: 20 minutes
1
Case Study
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Policing
Mental health and its relevance in the workplace is an issue that is gaining increasing
attention. A best-practice approach includes preventing work-related harm to mental
health, promoting positive mental health and responding to mental illness, regardless of
its cause.
One occupation in which mental health issues have been highlighted is policing. Police
officers have been described as ‘ordinary people dealing with extraordinary situations’—
and those extraordinary situations also commonly involve extraordinary stress. On any
given day, a police officer might be confronted by a range of challenging circumstances
which can, literally, be matters of life and death. They can involve anything from dealing
with a natural disaster, attending to road accidents, detaining violent offenders or
helping lost children. Police also have a very detailed and stringent code of rules and
regulations by which they must abide at all times. Almost any set of circumstances that
an officer deals with has a prescribed set of detailed procedures; if something goes
wrong, an officer can end up having to explain and defend their actions in court or in
front of an investigative tribunal. Additionally, in the case of a critical incident where
somebody is hurt or killed, they may also face intense media scrutiny for months—or
even years—while it is investigated.
Police can also face very demanding and inflexible working conditions. Policing is a
24/7 occupation, which means officers can be rostered to work almost any time of the
day or night, and often work rotating shifts for years at a time. This can make it
challenging to maintain hobbies and friendships or social connections outside work. As
a consequence, police often have social networks that are largely restricted to other
police personnel and their partners and families. This is reinforced by the fact that many
officers find it hard to talk to people outside the policing world about the type of work
they do, and about the unique demands it places on them and their families.
It’s understandable, then, that police officers have the highest incidence of
psychological stress claims of any occupational category. In fact, public order and
safety services have the highest frequency rates for such stress claims—more than
double the number of claims of any other industry group. Dealing with intense, and often
prolonged, job-related stressors can cause police officers to experience burnout, which
is a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. Burnout is particularly common
among those in service-oriented professions where people feel a sense of a ‘calling’ or
vocation.
Even more concerning is that police officers are at a heightened risk of developing PostTraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of what they experience in their working
MCR002 Organizational Behavior Time allowed: 20 minutes
2
life. Some officers develop PTSD from a single traumatising event, such as a shooting,
a car accident or another kind of violent incident. Others may develop it following
exposure to multiple traumas or after working with hostile and complex situations over
an extended period of time.
PTSD is a serious mental health condition. Symptoms can include hyper-arousal or
hyper-vigilance, depression, ‘intrusions’ (e.g. nightmares or ‘flashbacks’), avoidance and
social withdrawal. Officers with PTSD may also experience intense feelings of anger.
They may try to self-medicate by misusing alcohol or drugs. Moreover, without
appropriate organisational support and access to effective psychological treatment, the
risk of suicide among officers with PTSD increases. It’s not just rank-and-file police
officers who are vulnerable. In 2007, a very senior officer in a police service committed
suicide. The officer had been awarded a police medal in the past but had experienced
intense community scrutiny and pressure leading up to their suicide.
Despite the powerful and profound impacts of PTSD and other pressures on officers,
many police forces continue to struggle to appropriately support officers and implement
preventative strategies. Officers who experience a traumatising event may receive
debriefing and access to support in its immediate aftermath. However, stigma and a
pervasive fear among some officers who believe that seeking help will result in damage
to their careers may prevent the uptake of these types of supports. Traditional cultural
norms within the police force have encouraged officers to ‘be tough’ and maintain a
‘macho’ problem-solving style. This may result in officers concealing their difficulties
from their colleagues and being reluctant to seek help. As one officer explained, ‘In this
male culture, PTSD is seen … as a contagious disease. If I lower my defences to
become empathetic to my colleagues, I become vulnerable to a breakdown myself.’
Questions
1. What types of emotions do you think police officers might frequently experience in their
workplace?
2. How might police officers, their leaders and support professionals use emotional intelligence
when supporting officers who are experiencing mental health issues such as stress, burnout,
anxiety or depression?
Source: Adapted from McShane et al. 2019 . McGraw Hill Australia. Case written by Megan Woods, Sarah Dawkins, Rob Macklin
and Angela Martin, University of Tasmania adapted