Tehama County, California — June is PTSD Awareness Month. And while most people think post-traumatic stress disorder only affects veterans, it also affects law enforcement officers.
of Managing Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services According to (SAMHSA), law enforcement officers are more likely to experience depression, burnout, anxiety and PTSD than the general population.
Worse, nearly 25% of police officers have experienced suicidal thoughts at least once. For smaller faculties, the percentage rises to more than three times his national average. SAMHSA also states that less than 20% of law enforcement officers with documented mental health problems seek care or help because of stigma about mental health problems. there is
KRCR met with Tehama County Sheriff Dave Kane on Tuesday to learn more about the challenges officers face in their area. When Kane first started working for his law enforcement agency, he said he never thought about dealing with his mental health.
“It’s definitely a momentum change day by day. I started working 26 years ago and to say I have PTSD in this job is like a scarlet letter.” And today things have changed and things are changing for the better.” “We want to encourage people to take care of themselves. This career could last 30 or 40 years.” It may be, but we’ve had plenty of years to get over it, and we don’t want the devil creeping in,” Kane said. It affects all of our staff, whether they work here or not. ”
Kane also said that when new recruits come to the sheriff’s office, they will voice their mental health concerns and inform them early on about how they can address it and the resources the county can help them with. rice field.
Tehama County and the Sheriff’s Department also have several services, such as Code Nine, to help law enforcement officers deal with mental health and PTSD.
