25% of gardaí have PTSD, expert claims
Wellbeing survey of 2,200 officers highlights illness
ONE in four gardaí are suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder because of what they witness as part of their job, a Garda conference has heard.
Thousands of gardaí could be suffering from PTSD, according to a chartered psychologist who carried out a wellbeing survey for the Garda Representative Association.
The findings were released at the annual GRA conference in Wexford yesterday.
Dr Finian Fallon also found that a further 11% of the force had what he called ‘sub-threshold’ PTSD, which had a similar impact on a sufferer but had not yet been fully diagnosed.
His findings are based on a
survey in which more than 2,200 gardaí were questioned.
Dr Fallon also discovered that 27% of officers could be ‘walking wounded’ from trauma they had witnessed while at work.
He said: ‘Effectively one in four members may be walking wounded, as I would describe them, in terms of distress and impairment in their lives as a result of trauma.’ Dr Fallon, a psychologist, psychotherapist and dean of business and psychology at City Colleges, Dublin, added that trauma witnessed by frontline gardaí was a ‘cauldron for adversity in relation to trauma and wellbeing’.
He listed the ten wellbeing issues confronting gardaí as:
Feeling frustrated by the amount of paperwork;
Not possessing right equipment to do the job properly;
Believing that senior officers and managers do not appreciate the challenges they face;
Witnessing nepotism in appointments to jobs and roles;
Working unsocial hours that impact on family and friends;
Insufficient training in required technical skills;
Always feeling physically tired because of the hours worked;
Believing the overall remuneration is inadequate;
Feeling undervalued for their contribution to wider force;
Too many work demands to be effective in their role.
Outgoing GRA president Ciaran O’Neill said the findings made for concerning reading and provided more evidence of the mental health issues being suffered by members.
He had formally asked Acting Garda Commissioner Dónall Ó Cualáin to order a full occupational health survey of all members and respond to the findings by putting necessary protections in place.
He was supported by Louth delegate Lisa McEntee, who is stationed in Ardee and has more than 16 years on the front line.
Ms McEntee said she had been verbally abused innumerable times, as well as being hit and kicked while on duty.
She acknowledged there were some support services in place – the employee assistance service has a workplace portal page – but said they needed to be better resourced and financed.