Ending Blue Suicide is Not a Lost Cause

Ending Blue Suicide is Not a Lost Cause
By Danielle Crosson

Blue suicide is a growing epidemic. As a college student, I had learned about blue suicide and wanted to share some of what I had learned on the topic with the hope that perhaps an officer out there would read this and know just a little more and hopefully get the help they need to get through their dark period. Also, my hope is that more is done to solve this epidemic.

Due to increases in crime, more mental health issues are arising within the law enforcement community. Also, many officers tell of a lack of support from their departments which makes it hard for them to feel comfortable asking for help. This is common knowledge, so more needs to be done to address this because higher stress levels and anxiety lead to burnout, an early retirement or, unfortunately, blue suicide. Due to the stigma that is behind officers seeking help, many internalize this emotional and mental pain, and many officers do not seek help because they fear they will be tested for their fitness for duty, have their gun taken away, or placed on modified duty. Our officers deserve better for the work we ask them to do every day. They risk their lives for ours and deserve to have stigmas removed and access to mental health readily and acceptably available. 

In most circumstances regarding blue suicide, there are warning signs before the officer makes the ultimate decision to end his or her life. The first symptom tends to be stress, which leads to depression, or the officer begins to act out of the ordinary. Due to the stress, and possible dependency on harmful substances, the officer tends to struggle with intimate relationships such as family and friends and may even have marital problems. This is all part of a downward spiral that needs intervention as soon as possible. If a fellow officer sees any signs their brother or sister officer is struggling, they must have the courage to speak up and get the officer help. When blue suicide strikes the opportunity for intervention has passed.  Dismissing warning signs is too great of a chance to take.

As far as the research goes on blue suicide, I noticed there had been some discoveries; however, most times, the sample sizes are too small to provide any resourceful data. There is also a multitude of gaps within the research, which leaves many questions unanswered. Also, the research shows very little data about a spiritual component that, sadly, many people do not believe is a vital component to solving this issue. I believe understanding this untapped spiritual component will help not only in the analysis of why so many officers commit suicide, but will also work toward prevention. It’s worth looking into. 

Over the years, many helpers have been saving lives. Helplines such as Cop2Cop are great resources. Moment of Silence, Blue Magazine, and Brothers Before Others are excellent organizations that have been saving many lives over the years. These groups are the type of lifelines that save officers thinking about committing suicide and leave them feeling as if there is hope and that they can overcome whatever mental and physical struggles they are going through. There are also professional therapists out there who treat officers, and many find their assistance crucial to their overall health and well-being. 

Although I am still growing with my knowledge on this topic, I support the men and women in uniform and sincerely hope my brief article here helps and that more work is done toward solving the blue suicide epidemic. Ending blue suicide is not a lost cause. Every officer’s life is worth all the effort invested in solving this epidemic.