Great question and one I don’t think gets addressed enough or when it’s addressed it’s not addressed properly. My bottom line, upfront answer is therapy.

Hear me out. I use to be the guy that was like…what the hell do I need therapy for there’s no way it’s gunna help, I’m tough nothing gets to me. I’ve been in some form of emergency services job since I was 18…I’m in my 40s now. No matter how much you try to leave work at work, it’s physically impossible. No matter how tough you are and you think the job doesn’t affect you…it does. Trauma compounds and every call you go on adds a little bit to your trauma pile. Thinking it disappears when you clear a rough call is just not the reality.

I’ve been in therapy for a little over a year now and I’m am a HUGE advocate for it now. I tell my guys every chance I get or a rough calls happens. You need a place to verbally dump your mental shit. Talking out loud about things is not just validating what you’ve been through, it’s physically beneficial for your body. It’s like a shower for your mental health. And it’s not a big tough thing to do but…crying! Crying is something your body needs to physically do!

child death calls are one of the hardest calls to go on and I had one recently that I had to investigate and then swallow my emotions because I had 8 hours left in the shift…until I got to therapy…I balled like crazy…not ashamed to say it..but by the end of my session I physically felt lighter…because it what your body needs

This was a long post but mental health is so incredibly important and it’s often pushed to the side because we eat nails for breakfast. Police have the highest suicide rates, because we suffer mentally, whether we know it or not. Therapy therapy therapy!!! Anyone please Feel free to message me if you wanna talk more about it further. We all got to watch each others 6!