Long-Term Effects Of Stress On Police Officers

Police officers encounter a huge level of stress on a daily basis. Police officers have to deal with criminals and put themselves in physical danger every day. The stress that officers deal with can leave long term effects on their body, as well as having a huge influence on their well-being. Many people do not understand the tasks and struggles that officers have to encounter each day and the long lasting effects that these daily tasks can leave on an officer. There are many different reasons why police officers have to deal with a huge amount of stress. Many of the factors stem from the job itself. Some different types of stressors that come from the job itself are dealing with criminals and the danger that police officers has to put themselves in each day (Lyman). Other stressors can come from the police officer’s financial situation. Police officers do not go into this field for the money, as police officers are completely underpaid. Financial obligations can be a huge stressor. Many times police officers have to get a second job just to be able to make ends meet. Another huge stressor, especially in today’s society, is how society

This happens because the officer will soon realize that things are much different once out on the job versus while at the academy (Violanti). This study shows that the stress will increase among officers during the first 13 years of their career. The main reason this seems to happen is because the officer is helping a community and the citizens of the community do not seem to care about the officer or the good works that the officer is doing within that community. After their 13th year the study shows that the officers stress will start to decrease. The study says that this is the case because the officer will become much less career oriented. After the 20th year, the officers stress will significantly decrease