aniexty question

[LEJAwiu]

Got my research Thanks for the imput.

[bigcop97]

I know many officers who seem to have some problems with anxiety. Not in the way that would prevent them from doing a good job, but in a way that would affect their lives. I asked several why they dont seek any sort of medical help. I was told that medications such as Xanax and similar anxiety / panic medications would prevent you from entering a law enforcement job, or pehaps being removed from active duty. I was curious to see if this was true,. Being in the medical field, i have seen many 'normal' people who take things to treat their anxiety, would this really be a disqualifier in the police field? If so, how much of an impact does it have? And is does it only hold an impact on entering the field (hiring) or throughout your career?

thanks for any imput.

For a person that wants to be a police officer they go through a very extensive background / questioning process involving basically a disclosure about medical information in your life. We are subject to questioning that a lot of other job applicants are not. Policing is historically a very stressful occupation and for a person with already high anxiety it would be even harder on them. If a department found out that a candidate was on medication for anxiety I think that they would consider that when making a hiring decision.

As for a person that has developed Anxiety as the result of being a police officer... I think that to some degree we all eventually develop Anxiety on some level. We feel on edge or can not stop thinking about a call once we get home and try to sleep. A couple of reasons we dont seek medical help...

1) One is that we deal with our Anxiety productively. We exercise, we spend time with loved ones, we have a hobby.. basically although things bother us we still keep life in check...
2) A stigma surrounds anyone who goes to get help for these type of things. We are not going to be the "head case"... we deal with em...
3) Cops are bull headed people and most of them demand that they can take care of themselves and be strong and deal with any personal situation...

[curlyblue]

Yep....what bigcop 97 said.

[krcool32]

Bigcop97 sumed it up... We see things and deal with things every day that most people wouldn't see in a lifetime. And the job could get pretty depressing because your always seeing people at their worst. But you need hobbies not related to law enforcement...You need friends that are not police officers... Because when your around other cops all ya talk about is "the job"...To me, its only a job and not a lifestyle...I put my hours in and go home to my beautiful fiancee and two dogs and Its all worth it in the end!