The Potential Role of Mindfulness in First Responders' Mental Well-being

Written by Ryan Collyer

BOS LEAD & CLINICAL LIAISON

As a first Responder we train for the worst-case scenario. We train for the 1%, everything that can go wrong has gone wrong…no back up, you are by yourself, the patient or victim become violent, and we have to manage that. But what don’t we train? We don’t train people how to have some mental health literacy around those moments. We don’t train people how to be self-compassionate and empathetic; how to have a difficult conversation employing both of those concepts so that we can respond and not react to them. 

One question comes to mind over the lack of training in this space: Why? We can sometimes see the worst that humanity has to offer, and it’s expected that we will be ok. Whether it’s a family out for Christmas and hit by a drunk driver, or being attacked in the back of an ambulance, we do not train first responders in this space. Why? We are asked repeatedly to show up and be a good person to those we serve, our communities, but I think we are missing the fact that we as first responders carry our experiences with us no matter where we go.  

I have come to appreciate the power of mindfulness in providing opportunities to grow in the human performance space and in my own mental, physical, and emotional health.  In the following op ed, I will try to identify the unique challenges faced by first responders along with the impacts on their mental well-being, and the valuable role mindfulness plays in enhancing resilience, increasing human performance, and fostering a healthier, more balanced life. 

What are the struggles we face 

Since the beginning of all uniformed service professions, we have been faced with many things such as natural disasters, crimes against people, seeing the outcomes of poor decisions that will be continually etched into our memories. The nature of our jobs is never predictable and can create a cycle of anxiety, and stress that can have negative outcomes to our jobs and, more importantly, our humanity.  

The pseudo-stoic belief that we just need to suck it up and move on still continues to be pervasive in many sectors of first responders. But does it need to be that way? The battles we all face are not only on the outside but continue from the inside because we do not talk, nor do we train in a way that supports our mental health. The idea that we can carry these emotional burdens by ourselves and continue to be a good parent, brother, sister, friend, or colleague is ridiculous. It has the possibility to catch up; and then what? What options do we have in a culture that sees being vulnerable (raising your hand to ask for help) as weakness? 

For the past number of years things have just gotten busier across all aspects of front facing professions, and people are being asked to do more with less. Couple all of that with shift work, irregular sleep patterns, and stigma around mental health, which is still pervasive in our organizations, and we have the perfect combination of factors that can, and often do, lead down a path for negative mental health outcomes. What if there was something that could potentially provide you with training that can increase your human performance, help you sleep, allow you to find your space between reacting and responding? What if? 

Mindfulness: Human Performance in all aspects.  

So, mindfulness huh? Mindfulness is really training to pay attention in three ways; inside, outside, and then the Metta (attention about the attention). But the key to all of this practice is all about non-judgement, being in the present moment (hard when you’re trained to predict outcomes), and equanimity. (Oxford Dictionary; mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation) Sounds like human performance to me.  

So, now what? How do I put this into practice?  

Let’s keep it simple. We need to train to be more aware of 2 aspects; what is going on in the inside and building awareness of what’s going on with ourselves. Great. What does that mean? Well, in a nutshell it means that we’ve trained to be in the midst of chaos, regulating the stress response in a way that works for each person (physical and thoughts) so we can show up and be the most effective, compassionate bad ass that we can be. Sure, it’s fully present in the moment but also once regulated we can open the situational awareness about what’s around us, be a kind regulated human being. Let me be clear this isn’t about being a push over, in fact I would argue that it makes you a better police officer, firefighter, paramedic, corrections office, healthcare worker. So, again I ask the question; What if? 

Emotional Regulation and Resilience 

Emotional regulation…what is that? Well, it really just means that you catch yourself before you lose control. Let me be clear, it doesn’t happen all the time that you’re some kind of monk that never gets angry or shows emotions. Think of it like a check engine light goes on, giving you a warning that you’re getting close to the edge. Joan Halifax, who writes an amazing book called “Standing at the Edge” talks about the “edge state” where she’s become “aware of five internal and interpersonal qualities that are keys to a compassionate and courageous life, and without which we cannot serve, nor can we survive.” She talks about the edge states of where we lose ourselves or go too far over the edge stepping into suffering if we don’t have awareness. Mindfulness and meditation can help us to catch ourselves in these times. Really, what we are talking about without talking about is Human Performance. We can train to be more aware of dysregulation and therefore can move to that space of being courageous and authentic to our needs and those we serve. Sounds simple but it requires training and practice…and we all want more training, right? 

WHAT NOW! 

I asked the question “what if” earlier and I guess that’s what I want to focus on. If we take the opportunity to look at the skill sets we all have developed in each of our professions, and the time it takes to become competent, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the four stages of competence developed by Martin M. Broadwell. He developed the model to describe different levels of teaching in the 1960s, and I believe that to understand the evolution of learning new skills may help us understand that this may take some time.  When we start to train in a new skill we are “ignorant” and fall into the unconscious incompetence – we don’t know what we don’t know. As we practice and move through the other stages, we become aware of what we don’t know, then learn, and finally with practice, gain mastery over the skills. This applies not only to the tactical or professional skills but also to the skills around mindfulness and meditation. What if we decided to train in these skills, to stand at the edge and really be a more effective human being? That choice is yours, but I can say that it has been the most amazing time of learning for me this past 6 years.