By Ashley Fullriede, LPC

One population (out of many) that can greatly benefit from therapy is First Responders. Careers that fall under First Responders include law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics, dispatchers, EMTs, volunteer positions, and others. Within these careers, there are many stressors as well as traumas that occur regularly. These professions are ones where individuals give so much of themselves for others. Many of the individuals in these professions have a strong sense of wanting to help others and can be a main factor in making a decision to go into these careers. For some, this sense of helping others is a part of their identity. Helpers, in the many careers they encompass, give so much of themselves for others and over time this can be impacting for these individuals. First responders, compared to other helpers, have additional layers that impact them.  For many, trauma on the job is not accumulated in the same capacity as is common for first responders. First responders experience the trauma and crisis of others frequently, resulting in a strong possibility of having secondary or vicarious trauma. In addition to this vicarious trauma of being with others experiencing trauma, there is the actual trauma the first responder endures. To put this into perspective, there are some stats that can help conceptualize what this looks like:

• Compared to the general population, 30 percent of first responders are diagnosed with depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

• Huang et al. (2022) with the NIH found that 67% of first responders qualified for mild depression, 60% for mild anxiety, and 58% for mild stress. 

• The Institutes of Health report that for first responders, 37% have contemplated suicide at some point in time. 

Trauma and vicarious trauma can impact people in a number of ways and symptoms may look different for different people. Trauma symptoms impact people both at work and at home–making daily life difficult. For some this may look like avoidance or numbing, which impacts the individual in many ways but also impacts relationships with their family members and support people. Other symptoms may look like anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, unhealthy substance usage, reckless behaviors, difficulty with sleep, nightmares, intrusive thoughts and memories, and sometimes always feeling on edge or hypervigilant. 

The mental health and well-being of first responders is especially important not only for the first responder themselves, but for families, relationships, and communities. Within this community, there can be a misconception or stigma that seeking help for mental health struggles shows signs of weakness or “something being wrong” with that individual. While there is this stigma that exists, many first responders and first responder organizations are trying to rewrite this narrative and encourage working on mental health. It will take time to help get rid of these stigmas but having more conversations about mental health and mental health care can help slowly reduce this stigma instead of letting it live in the silence. By not having these conversations, the stigma and idea that mental issues indicate a weakness or “flaw” continues to grow. Therapy can be a great tool for first responders as a way to greater explore and cope with the stressors and traumas. Mental health is just as important as our physical health! If we break a bone, there typically is not a question of whether or not we will be seen and treated out of fear of how seeking treatment will reflect on the individual. Mental health can impact our ability to live a fulfilling life or impact day-to-day functioning. Counseling can be a great tool to help address that trauma and any other mental health concerns. 

If you are interested in participating in mental health counseling as a First Responder or First Responder family member, please find more information about our clinicians here: https://www.thementalwellnesscenter.com/providers

To schedule an appointment with someone at The Mental Wellness Center, Inc please call 309-807-5077 or email us at Info@TheMentalWellnessCenter.com