Cop With Ptsd And Struggling

[FireSign8]

If you are in a Union, then I suggest you try contacting your Union Rep ASAP. They get paid to assist you with matters like these. If not, then find an attorney & sue the crap out of these bitches for denying you your rights as well as putting your health & the health & safety of the public who depend on you to be able to handle anything & everything while on the job. This is just so unfair to a person like you who is putting your life on the line everytime you put on the uniform & step out into the streets. What the hell is wrong with the people in charge these days. People are important. I hope you fight & I hope you win. My kid is a first responder & I know what personal sacrifice is.

 

[Hooah84]

Unfortunately here in Bama it's illegal for us to be unionized. As for as legal counsel, I'm currently getting some advice. I don't want it to come to any of that, because that's more stress I don't need. BUT, I have to protect myself and not allow them to walk all over me either. I haven't asked my employer to place me on a pedi stool because I believe I'm "special". All I've been asking for is a little consideration, because it benefits EVERYONE. I stepped up and got help because it was necessary, not because I wanted an easy job...

 

[Tornadic Thoughts]

In my previous life, I worked at a state-run agency that had it's own police force. One of the officers suffered a car accident and had to take time off. He, too, was given a major run around when trying to come back to work within the capacity he was able, in which they had space to place him elsewhere other than back on the "street", with them stating the 100% or nothing stipulation. He was eventually given a position in another department doing a totally different job for the same police pay. Systems and those put in place to manage them leave a lot to be desired more often than not. Best of luck in navigating their ways.

 

[Freedomfighter]

You could talk to a lawyer. Sounds like discrimination to me. I'm so sorry that happened.

Lawyer sounds nice at first but the real tight rope walk would come later because many crazy people out there that call themselves normal will attempt to make fun of PTSD sufferers. That is all the criminals have done that caused my PTSD.

 

[Enaila]

In my honest opinion, I think you may become a better police officer than you were as now you understand more about post traumatic stress disorder and maybe when responding would be able to view the crisis from a new viewpoint. Police officers, police cars, lights, sirens, and guns are all triggers for me mostly due to how I was treated by officers when they responded to a call I made to get help. One of my worst and continuing flashbacks is due to how police handled the emergency and how the victim, myself, was never addressed at all. I was left in fear and confusion as well as traumatic stress. My PTSD allows me to understand the teens I deal with day to day better as I can recognize when they are anxious, struggling with ptsd (those who have been diagnosed), and I understand what it means to have difficulty maintaining attention when emotions are in charge. I have learned techniques to calm and ground, which I'm able to encourage angry students to use. Perhaps the skills you learn from your therapist will add to your professional repertoire?