‘A third of North East emergency service workers have considered suicide’
An ex police officer from Chester-le-Street says wanted to die after 10 years of service as figures show one in three have thought about suicide.
One in three emergency service workers have contemplated suicide, according to new research.
Mental health charity Mind reveal 33% of people working for blue light services in the North East have thought about taking their own lives due to stress and poor mental health.
The online survey of over 1,600 staff and volunteers from police, fire, ambulance and search and rescue services also shows that two thirds have considered leaving their job.
Andrew Cowan, from Chester-le-Street, was diagnosed with depression after 10 years of service at Durham Constabulary. He said:
“I felt that if I wasn’t alive then all the pain would go away and I wouldn’t have to think about it because it wasn’t too much.
“Some days you wish you weren’t alive. Some mornings I just couldn’t get out of bed, waking up feeling worthless, feeling like there is no point, you’re an embarrassment to everybody else, your family, your job just because you couldn’t feel better about it.
“Were all human at the end of the day, with no extra support you’re expected to deal with what you come across. All those pressures build up over time and it only takes a small thing to go wrong which has a cascading effect on everything else in your life. That’s what happened to me.”
Stuart Dexter, Chief Exec at Tyneside Northumberland Mind, says they’re committed to improving mental health support for emergency service workers
They’ve just launched the Blue Light Network which includes training for line managers and peer support. He said:
“Hopefully, throughout the year we’ll have a really robust network to support the mental health and wellbeing of those emergency service workers, and help them support each other really. We want to create a culture where mental health problems can be discussed, there isn’t that stigma and people can go and get the help that they need earlier.
“I think the figures today demonstrate the need to protect the mental health of our blue light workers. It’s a very stressful job and stressful jobs and even more reason for us to try and seek more funding to support those services.”
Read more about the blue light campaign here:* *
If you've been affected by these issues, there's more information on where to get help here: http://www.samaritans.org