A View From Above on Things That Make The World Go 'Round
James Donaldson on Mental Health – Improving police interactions with people with schizophrenia
Posted on by
READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<
New research from the Department of Psychology sheds light on the association between police officers’ psychological distress and how they view people with serious mental illnesses
Anew study from researchers at the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences indicates that boosting the mental health of police officers could help to decrease the number of incidents involving police aggression toward people with serious mental illnesses.
“About a quarter of police fatalities involve a person who has serious mental illness, like schizophrenia,” said Amy Weisman de Mamani, the lead researcher and a professor in the Department of Psychology. “So, we really wanted to understand why these interactions go wrong.”
Something that also caught Weisman de Mamani’s attention in the existing research is that as a group, police officers are psychologically distressed in part because they are exposed to trauma in their line of work. “In theory, when people are not well, they are less able to regulate their emotions, particularly in stressful moments. They are also more likely to displace that onto someone else,” she added.
Working with a team of psychology Ph.D. students, including Salman Ahmad, Denise Chung-Zou, Merranda McLaughlin, Genesis Saenz Escalante, and Zachary Goodman, Weisman de Mamani found that police officers who experience psychological distress are more likely to stigmatize people with schizophrenia. This could potentially impact their behavior.
“There are strong associations in the directions that we expected: the more distressed emotions officers felt or suicidal ideation or behavior they exhibited, the more likely they were to stigmatize people with serious mental illness,” said Weisman de Mamani.
The team used a mixed methods approach of analyzing survey and qualitative data from 107 officers. They only recruited male officers because the majority of police officers are male and almost all violent incidents between civilians and police officers involve male officers. The survey consisted of scales measuring mental illness stigma, depression, anxiety, stress, suicidal behaviors, and social justice attitudes.
#James Donaldson notes: Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes. Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use. Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space.#http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticle Find out more about the work I do on my 501c3 non-profit foundation website www.yourgiftoflife.org Order your copy of James Donaldson’s latest book, #CelebratingYourGiftofLife: From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy
“Interestingly, when we looked at social justice attitudes, there was no main effect linking police officers’ social justice attitudes to their stigma toward people with schizophrenia,” Weisman de Mamani said. “However, we found that psychological distress and suicidal ideation both moderated the link between social justice attitudes and stigma. Specifically, when police officers’ distress and suicidal ideation were low, social justice attitudes were associated with lower stigma toward individuals with schizophrenia. However, when police officers’ distress and suicidal ideation were high, social justice attitudes were not associated with stigma. Thus, conscientious values like social justice mindedness may not protect officers against holding stigmatized views of those with mental illness if officers themselves are feeling mentally unwell.”
The findings have important societal implications, calling attention to the need to increase mental health support for police officers. This support, the findings suggest, could help to lower the number of police-induced deaths that involve people with serious mental illnesses. Increased mental health support could also improve or even save the lives of officers, who experience exceedingly high rates of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and attempted suicide, as well as death by suicide.
Engaging in this research project reinforced to Weisman de Mamani and her team that working as a police officer is an incredibly stressful job, and that many officers fear they will lose their jobs if they acknowledge that they are experiencing psychological distress.
Weisman de Mamani believes that “giving officers the resources they need, including time off to recover from traumatic events and the assurance of confidentiality and job security if they seek mental health assistance, could make a real difference. If officers are not in the form to do their jobs with a clear mind, the constituents they serve are going to suffer. We need to create better access to evidence-based treatments for our officers.”
In the long term, Weisman de Mamani hopes to build interventions that are tailored to police culture by involving experts such as retired police officers and police chiefs.
James Donaldson is a Washington State University graduate (’79). After an outstanding basketball career with WSU, he went on to play professional basketball in the NBA with the Seattle Supersonics, San Diego/L.A. Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, and Utah Jazz. He also played for several teams in the European Leagues in Spain, Italy, and Greece, and he toured with The Harlem Globetrotters to wrap up his career. James was an NBA All-Star in 1988 while playing center for the Dallas Mavericks. In 2006, James was inducted into the Pac-10 Sports Hall of Fame and also the Washington State University Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2010, James was elected as a board member for the NBA Retired Players Association.
James frequently conducts speaking engagements (motivational, inspirational, educational) for organizations, schools, and youth groups.
In 2010, James was the recipient of the NBA Legends of Basketball ABC Award, awarded for outstanding contributions in Athletics–Business–Community.
He believes in being a role model for success and professionalism to the scores of young people to whom he devotes so much of his time. He currently serves on several boards and committees and is a member of many organizations.
James believes in developing relationships that create a “Win-Win” environment for everyone involved, and in being the best he can be!
For more information about James Donaldson or to request he speak at your event, contact him at:
James Donaldson is the author of “Standing Above The Crowd” and “Celebrating Your Gift of Life” and founder of the Your Gift of Life Foundation which focuses on mental health awareness and suicide prevention, especially pertaining to our school aged children and men.
If you’re interested in having James come and speak to your group of young adults, business entrepreneurs, aspiring political and community leaders, and athletic teams, please contact him at [email protected] and or leave a personal message for him at 1-800-745-3161. Keep up with him and read about how he is reaching out and making a difference in the lives of so many around the world at www.yourgiftoflife.org
Related
READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<
