wanderingmedic
RN, Paramedic
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I ran across this article a couple days ago. Because I'm interested in mental health, and because I'm interested in the mental healthcare of first responders, I figured it could be an interesting read. What I found was sorely disappointing, and I'm afraid that attitudes implicit in the article stigmatize Fire, Law Enforcement, and EMS personnel who struggle with mental health concerns.
The tagline to the article is: "The recent European airline tragedy shows how hard it is to filter out those with mental health problems" (emphasis mine).
I do not think that there is any problem with performing psychological evaluations to try to filter out problem personal before they hit the streets, however the article never defined "mental health problems." In failing to define "mental health problems" my fear is that personal who have sought help with mental health concerns and are now psychologically stable, will be clumped together with people who (like the airline pilot) are symptomatically mentally ill and a threat to the public. Furthermore, it concerns me that if there are personal reading this article who are considering reaching out for help, they won't ever access the help they need because they are afraid they could loose their jobs, or be clumped with the same crazies that fly jet liners into mountains intentionally. I was left wondering whether the author was suggesting that personal with managed PTSD, depression, anxiety, should never be hired, or removed from departments completely. We have to distinguish between the personal who are psychotically unstable and a threat to our departments and communities, and the personal who are struggling with mental health concerns and are receiving help to heal. It's simply not fair to put both of those kinds of people in the same category.
I'm all for discussing ways to make sure departments put the best people on the streets. But, I think that we need to be careful not to stigmatize people who have mental health concerns and get better with therapy. As corny as it sounds, Public Safety should be a brotherhood where it's okay to not be okay, and where personal can feel comfortable knowing that their departments stand behind them when they struggle with mental health issues and ask for help.
The tagline to the article is: "The recent European airline tragedy shows how hard it is to filter out those with mental health problems" (emphasis mine).
I do not think that there is any problem with performing psychological evaluations to try to filter out problem personal before they hit the streets, however the article never defined "mental health problems." In failing to define "mental health problems" my fear is that personal who have sought help with mental health concerns and are now psychologically stable, will be clumped together with people who (like the airline pilot) are symptomatically mentally ill and a threat to the public. Furthermore, it concerns me that if there are personal reading this article who are considering reaching out for help, they won't ever access the help they need because they are afraid they could loose their jobs, or be clumped with the same crazies that fly jet liners into mountains intentionally. I was left wondering whether the author was suggesting that personal with managed PTSD, depression, anxiety, should never be hired, or removed from departments completely. We have to distinguish between the personal who are psychotically unstable and a threat to our departments and communities, and the personal who are struggling with mental health concerns and are receiving help to heal. It's simply not fair to put both of those kinds of people in the same category.
I'm all for discussing ways to make sure departments put the best people on the streets. But, I think that we need to be careful not to stigmatize people who have mental health concerns and get better with therapy. As corny as it sounds, Public Safety should be a brotherhood where it's okay to not be okay, and where personal can feel comfortable knowing that their departments stand behind them when they struggle with mental health issues and ask for help.