Interesting perceptive from someone who treats officers.
Lisa Wimberger
Considering that Occupy Wall Street has put our nation’s law
enforcement ethics on center stage, it seems more relevant now
than ever, to address this topic. I am not an officer, but
because I consult for many agencies as a stress-management
practitioner, I do have the benefit of a unique perspective to
offer you.
I am not interested in consensus on whether cops are
good
or
bad.
Admittedly, it’s a loaded question. Those in the profession will
defend its honor, and those on the civilian side of its
sometimes-misguided force, might say that cops are bad.
I’m interested in giving you an insider’s glimpse
into some of the insidious nuances of the profession so that
you, too, will never again look at this topic as having a
black-and-white answer.
Here is a very basic distillation of some of the most recent
statistics in the profession.
• Cops have the highest rate of divorce, alcohol abuse,
substance abuse and clinical depression out of any profession.
• One in three cops suffers Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD), which is more than the statistics for the military.
• The life spans of cops are, on average, 10 years shorter than
in any other profession.
• A cop’s risk of depression and suicide increases drastically
after retirement.
• Four times more cops die from suicide than in the line of
duty.
• According to the Badge of Life organization, cops have the
next highest rate of suicide after the Marines. With an
estimated 450 officer suicides a year, even if that number were
reduced by half, that would still mean twice as many officers
die from suicide than from felons.
Why is this?
My experience over the last five years of working with
law-enforcement agencies has revealed to me a very ailing and
desperate industry. Cops see, experience and hear about more
traumas on a daily basis than most individuals. Potential and
perpetual exposure to theft, domestic abuse, substance abuse,
rape, incest, drug trafficking,
human trafficking, crimes against children, homicide, serial
killing, and mental neglect and disease permeates each and
every workday.
As this becomes the norm, a cop is primed to
function at a high state of alert at all times.
This mental state is the prime function of the limbic brain.
When the limbic brain is active it floods our bodies with
adrenaline and cortisol. If an individual doesn’t have an
opportunity to discharge these hormones, or have ample time to
regulate them (which can take up to 18 hours of rest and sleep),
they begin to create a very disturbing physiological and
neurological response.
Physiologically, these hormones increase an individual’s
predisposition to cardiac arrest, type II diabetes, immune
dysfunction, inflammation, cognitive impairment, Parkinson’s,
Alzheimer’s, depression and even suicide.
The human body was never meant to sustain excessive daily levels
of these hormones. Chronic exposure to these factors
neurologically increases the thickness of the cortex in the
limbic brain, making the fight-or-flight response stronger and
more apt to engage, even erroneously. This also shrinks the
prefrontal cortex, reducing one’s ability to feel empathy, see
the big picture, creatively problem solve, see things from a
different perspective, be creative, have insights and/or
experience joy.
With most of our law-enforcement agencies’ money
going towards tactical trainings, there’s little time and
resources left to address the debilitating stress cycles
inherent in the industry.
Most agencies have an Employee Assistance Program, where a
psychologist offers confidential treatments. However, I’ve
trained over 600 officers – very few of whom have been willing
to even talk to a psychologist. Typically, this is viewed as a
weakness and job risk to admit vulnerability and the need for
help. Many cops would rather not talk about it at all, than risk
being labeled as weak. So, this service often goes unused, even
as suicide rates increase.
We have an industry that breeds a masculine façade who then has
to deal with the civilian expectation that they should perform
above and beyond any ethical reproach. Within 10 years on the
force, a typical cop can go from being an idealistic person who
believes they can make a positive change in the world, to a
cynical, jaded, depressed and broken individual who’s encouraged
to hide their emotions, bury their fears, and slowly recede into
a shell.
PTSD is a debilitating disease if untreated. Individuals under
the best care often struggle with this disease. Cops perceive
they don’t have the luxury to seek treatment.
So many of our nation’s law-enforcement agents are
walking time-bombs, which are made worse by the constant
pressure to meet our highest expectations.
Mindfulness and meditation has the potential to change all of
that. The meditation techniques I teach to law-enforcement
agencies seem to be a way around this dilemma. They give
officers preventative techniques to help mitigate some of their
debilitating cycles. Cops who devote regular and consistent time
to practicing the techniques are able to identify patterns
attributed to their limbic brain, and renegotiate their
responses. The result of overriding the limbic brain is nothing
short of miraculous.
Black-and-white thinking opens up to new possibilities as the
prefrontal cortex becomes active. States of happiness and joy
become accessible. Individuals begin to think outside of the box
to find new solutions or approaches to life. As the prefrontal
cortex strengthens, individuals develop the ability to override
biases and prejudices, which are typically hardwired in to the
limbic system. Empathy takes center stage once the limbic brain
is quieted. What could the industry culture be like if all
agencies offered these types of preventative well-being services
to their officers? Would we see a type of officer emerge?
I have seen cops break down in tears as they’ve told me that
nothing is what they hoped it would be. I have heard personal
tales of drunken cops with loaded guns, waiting with their
fingers on the trigger for their spouse to get home. I have
witnessed high levels of trauma turn good-hearted men and women
into callous and confused masochists. I have watched cops
alienate themselves from their families, friends and society as
they slip into downward spirals of depression. In those moments,
the very question of whether they’re good or bad seems
preposterous.
What would I be like if that were my reality? What would you be
like if that were your reality?
There are some that sail through their careers unscathed,
content, fulfilled and heroic. I know some of them and they are
a rare breed. But for the most part, they are individuals lost
in a thick mire of our society’s darkest forces.
My stomach turns when I hear about:
• Stories of excessive police abuse against innocent people…
• Stories of civilians wrongfully treated…
• Tales of the deviants a cop must deal with when investigating
child homicides…
• Stories of graphic suicides…
• Stories of teenagers wrongfully killed…
And because of this, I no longer can separate cop from civilian,
or “us” from “them.”
Albert Einstein said that it was our sacred human
responsibility to help where we can. I think he meant that for
all of us.
As I continue my life’s work to teach neuro-sculpting and meditation to those in need, I cannot draw a
line in the sand and stand on one side of it. I often find
myself walking a tightrope between worlds that outwardly seem
conflicting. I am committed to looking at individuals as
mirrors, regardless of their ideologies, political beliefs,
economic status or religious affiliation. When I take this view,
then I can’t answer the question of whether cops are good or
bad. I can only notice individuals in pain who need help.
How different would our lives be if we could truly put ourselves
in one another’s shoes?
I leave you with my mantra: We are the storytellers and this
life is our story.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lisa Wimberger holds a
Masters Degree in Education from the University of Stonybrook,
NY. She is a certified MBTI consultant and a private healing and
psychic practitioner, teaching clients who suffer from stress
disorders. Lisa studied Ascension training for four years with
Ishaya monks. She completed two and a half years of psychic
awareness training at ICI, applying the tools of the Berkeley
Psychic Institute. She spent a year and a half in post-graduate
studies and is certified in the Foundations of Neuro Leadership.
Feel free to tell her your story and visit her website to learn
more about how these techniques are targeted to First
Responders.
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