Did you know that over 40% of police officers remove their stress and anger on their family members? Sad it is! Police officers go through a lot, and we cannot even imagine the kind of issues they have to deal with on a daily basis.
From getting calls at odd hours to always being under the obligation of serving the community, it takes a lot of personal sacrifices to sign up for this career. The result being, many of them get burned out early on in their career. It seems difficult, if not impossible, to cope with their job stress.
There are many reasons for stress. One, police officers are conditioned to focus on the negatives of every story. Two, they have seen the worst of behaviours exhibited by criminals. Three, what is abnormal for us civilians, becomes a norm for them. Four, they hardly get a good night’s sleep. Either they get duty’s call or have nightmares about the incident that happened that day.
How can one, under such circumstances, cope with the stress? We wish to make you aware of some ways police officers can take good care of themselves.
Table of Contents
1. Have a life outside your duty
Your life cannot be, and should not be, all about your duty and responsibility towards the community. You need to have a life beyond that. No matter if you are married or not, take some time out for yourself every now and then. Go out with friends, party, visit your parents.
2. Inculcate healthy eating and physical habits
Self-care also involves maintaining a strict diet and fitness regime. When you exercise on a regular basis, you feel fresh and charged up. Police officers eat at odd hours and therefore find it difficult to maintain a healthy diet regime. So, it becomes very important to have healthy eating habits. Adequate sleep also plays an important role in keeping stress at bay.
3. Practice meditation
It is no secret that meditating every day is a very effective way to ensure mental health. One should try to focus on thoughts and good feelings, and empty their minds of negative emotions and bad memories. Meditating also allows one to take out some time for oneself, and not be involved in worldly affairs.
4. Take frequent vacations
It’s a good practice to take some time off from work whenever it gets overwhelming or beyond your ability to handle stress. For this, it is important to be able to have the ability to understand your emotions and know when it’s time. Ignoring your feelings would do no good to you and your loved ones.
5. Follow all rules and regulations
Yes, you are there to protect the world, but what about your self-protection? Do you make sure you carry the right safety gear when you are out on duty? Will you be able to protect yourself in an unforeseen situation?
Carrying tactical gear like ballistic body armor, bulletproof jackets, handcuffs with you all the time will ensure your personal safety, and allow you to catch the criminal or pin him down. It will also save you the post-event trauma of not being prepared for the situation.
No matter if you are a civilian, a relative of a police officer, or a police officer yourself, awareness about these tips can help you in making police officers focus on self-care more. Let’s take care of their mental health too. It’s time we started talking about the problems police officers have to deal with. After all, even they deserve love and care from us, especially when they have given so much to us.
