Why do some many cops commit suicide?

Question

That is very sad.

Answer 1

Police officers are no different than anyone else when it comes to the vicious cycle of despair that accompanies, and is part and parcel of suicidal depression.

Like a snake eating it's tail, depression feeds on itself.

Instead of recognizing that feeling hopeless is a symptom of depression, you interpret the feeling as a fact, and begin to think thoughts that support the feeling and make it worse.

Unfortunately police officers tend not to avail themselves of psychotherapy because they see going to a counselor as a sign of weakness. They also may not trust therapists, often because of past experiences with them in court or because the therapists they've met have not been the kind of people they'd ever open up to.

There's one form of suicide that can be remedied without a police stress therapist or counselor, and that's suicide caused by insensitive police administration.

If chiefs and command officers paid more attention to morale, and were alert to signs of distress in the ranks, there would be less police officer depression.

In instances when officers feel betrayed or abandoned by their bosses and hung out to dry, for whatever reason, it is common first for anger to emerge, but depression usually lurks just below the surface. Outrage and resentment, often justified, can mask the underlying depression.

There's really no such thing as run-of-the-mill police stress.

Police officers are so adept at pretending everything is copasetic that what appears to be minor stress can really be the tip of the iceberg. And we know what happened to the Titanic.

Every warning sign of stress must be taken seriously. It is better to err on the side of caution than ignore a problem that could result in the death of an officer.

Thank you very much for your concern....best wishes!

Answer 2

It's not always the "job" that pushes people to kill themselves. Sometimes it's for any reason someone else might do so. Depression, family, victim of some crime themselves. It has been shown that having easy access is a huge part of the problem. Unfortunately, people can make a quick decision in an instant and can't change their minds after pulling the trigger.

Answer 3

Their careers are extremely stressful, everything they deal with is negative, not a whole lot of positive karma in the law enforcement world, add the job to their personal life, which suffers because of the career, and things get pretty tense. I don't know that suicides are higher with law enforcement or not, I would tend to guess that the general public has a higher suicide rate, basically because people in law enforcement tend to be physically and mentally strong, and have a need for control in their lives. Maybe it's when things get a bit out of control, that the suicide happens..............I don't know.

Answer 4

Probably from all the misery they run across. not to mention the day in and day out stuff...coupled with hours of boredom punctuated with moments of terror have a tendency to wear you down and cause burnout. from that point on couple it with drinking, divorce, high alimony and child support payments, long additional hours of overtime to make the nut, crawling into a shell or a bottle and depression.
Its no small wonder some eat their guns. There isn't a time in a cops career where you don't think about it at least once.

Answer 5

stress. not sure of how many actually commit suicide though. there is also some that suffer from addictions and a higher than usual rate of commiting domestic abuse. they need better,more frequent psych exams

Answer 6

I feel that it is from all the stress, that they deal with on a day to day basis and personal life as well. Sometimes they see things that some people couldn't even imagine and then alot of people don't appreiciate them enough.

Answer 7

please, also do not forget small fact that some cops commit suicide because they got caught doing something very seriously illegal and realized that they will go to jail forever. So they deside to put themselves out of misery.

Answer 8

same reasons other people kill thierself, when a officer does it, the news covers it more

Answer 9

who cares?