Tukwila PD to educate officers about signs of PTSD during awareness month
Tukwila Police raise awareness for PTSD
May is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month. Tukwila Police Department will wear a special patch on their sleeve, and learn more about PTSD.
TUKWILA, Wash. - Investigating traumatic incidents can be mentally draining for law enforcement. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), about 30 percent of first responders develop mental health conditions like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
June is recognized nationally as PTSD Awareness Month. The Tukwila Police Department is using this time to focus on the issue affecting officers locally and across the country.
In an announcement, the department wrote, "By empowering law enforcement officers to recognize the symptoms, intervene early on and seek help, we can help curb and treat the impact of these traumatic events as soon as possible before they become too great a weight and burden to bear."
Dig deeper:
NAMI reports that most first responders don’t get the help they need due to concern for personal and professional consequences. Robert Cubby, a retired captain from the Jersey City Police Department, was once one of them.
"There’s just too many first responders right now that are not seeking help and it’s sad that they’re sitting and not getting the help they need," said Cubby, now a NAMI facilitator on PTSD.
Tukwila Police Department is working to break the stigma to support its officers. TPD announced officers will wear a patch all month long highlighting the issue of PTSD as part of its rotating patch program.
Officers will also receive education from the department’s officer wellness program. They will learn about signs of PTSD, promote early intervention, and provide resources for impacted officers.
Cubby, the retired New Jersey captain, candidly told NAMI about the symptoms he experienced before seeking help for his PTSD.
"In one instance, I felt like, they call it sleep paralysis, that someone was laying on my chest and I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe, and I couldn’t stop them. And that was terrifying, it was absolutely unbelievably horrifying," said Cubby.
Law enforcement officers are at a high risk of experiencing traumatic events on a regular basis that can lead to PTSD. Those events include the death investigation of three young sisters from Wenatchee murdered allegedly by their father, Travis Decker. The girls’ bodies were found at the Rock Island Campground near Leavenworth, according to Chelan County investigators.
In recognizing this awareness month, TPD’s statement read, in part, "PTSD impacts everyone different. For officers with children, handling traumatic incidents involving kids can lead to PTSD."
The department further stated, "Emotionally impactful incidents involving death investigations or other emotionally charged events can also trigger PTSD."
There is help available. For Cubby, it was contacting NAMI about his traumatic memories on the force.
"With PTSD, it’s not something that you’re cured of. There’s no cure for PTSD. You can bring the symptoms under control. You can deal with them, recognize them, and understand them, but you’re never going to get those memories erased," said Cubby. "It’s the emotions that are involved and attached to those memories that we can do something about."
A traumatic experience can trigger PTSD in anyone, not just first responders. NAMI has chapters across the nation, including Seattle, for anyone needing mental health support.
Connect with NAMI Seattle online, or by contacting them at 206-783-9264, or info@namiseattle.org. Those who need immediate assistance can call or text the helpline at 425-298-5315 or emailing helpline@namiseattle.org.
The Source: Information in this story came from the Tukwila Police Department and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
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