Policeman’s Battle With Mental Health Issues. 1


There was a really refreshing story featured on www.express.co.uk about a policeman who was plagued by mental illness and who now has a handle on his depression. Such a positive article about how the police force helped him through and a moving account of his concerns about revealing his problem.

Inspector Wayne Goodwin has dealt with huge danger in his police and Army career but nothing was riskier than the moment he told senior officers he had mental health issues.After years struggling with the demons of depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, he had to reveal the dark impulses that dogged his life.

He feared his professional life would crumble under the stigma but, in a remarkable story of strength and understanding, his condition was accepted and he went on to gain promotion.

“I had hidden it for so long and it was building up like a pressure cooker so I needed to do something,” says the 40-year-old officer with Kent Police. “If I hadn’t, I felt I would have had a nervous breakdown.

“I had years of stigma ingrained so I feared the worst but my bosses were very supportive and I have gone from strength to strength.”

He is “in a much better place now”. He explained: “I say that depression was a black dog that used to run erratically around me but now it walks to heel. I know it is going to be with me for the rest of my life but I’m at peace with that.”

Wayne has run workshops and given presentations across his force and last week addressed MPs and mental health workers at a House of Commons reception hosted by charity Time To Change.

“I thought it was a huge taboo in the police force but I have been able to be open and use my experiences to help others,” he says.

“I think it is important because dealing with it helps us become more compassionate and understanding with the public and our fellow officers without losing any professionalism.”

Wayne, from Maidstone, joined the Royal Military Police after working as a delivery driver and in Burger King when he left school. Most of his five-year stint was in Belfast as a liaison officer for the Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary.

“I’d always worried about things and would continue running them through my head but it didn’t impact too much until I got into that position of responsibility in the Military Police,” he says.

“I would have to organise things like bomb disposal teams and after dealing with it, I would worry incessantly about everyone being all right and no one getting killed.

“I had anxiety and depression while I was serving but it is not the sort of thing you reveal. The stats are that one in four will suffer with a mental health issue and that will be there, if not more, in the military. But I thought it would be disastrous for my career and seen as a liability if I said anything so I kept it to myself.”

Wayne moved from the Army to the police in 1999 as a 26-year-old but his depression and OCD grew as he progressed through the ranks.

“My mind is like a great chess board and I always think five moves ahead, which is great for planning, but I think about an outcome and worry about the outcome and it becomes all consuming,” he says. “If I wasn’t worrying about my work, I would apply the same intense process to my private life.”

The bouts of depression increased until he found courage to confide in a fellow officer, saw his GP and began attending Kent Police meetings for officers with physical health issues.

“I started talking about my problems and it was cathartic,” adds Wayne. “The support within the force was great.”

This is such a positive story as mental health is difficult for anyone in any walk of life to discuss but in a working environment that involves sound judgement it can be even more worrying for the sufferer. For more on the campaign to end mental health stigma visit www.time-to-change.org.uk. For advice contact Mind on 0300 123 3393, www.mind.org.uk . If you feel you are suffering with depression or need any help with mental health concerns give the Mediterranean Quality Care Services team a call. We are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Article taken in part from www.express.co.uk/news/health/

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