Crime and combat apart, stress of job may also push a cop over the edge, warned psychologists while calling for measures to maintain mental health of policemen.
Psychologist and IMA district president P. Kishan said new recruits are often sensitive and feel guilty of happenings witnessed on the job. Unable to bear it, some resort to suicides. The department needs to remove stress of its personnel and conduct motivational programmes, he added.
Government Medical College Department of Neuro-Psychiatry head A. Vishal said that suicidal tendencies among policemen were increasing with work pressures, harassment, lack of relaxation and addictions. Data from National Crime Records Bureau for 2015 shows 167 suicides by policemen in the country. In 2014, around 35 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel committed suicide.
Psychologists link stress and decreased levels of hormones like serotonin to suicidal tendencies and add that police personnel are often found suffering from psychiatric problems but seldom seek help.
“Being a department of the disciplined, police have no chance to express their thoughts. The stress on police includes political, financial and work-related. Some officials confided they have to make monthly payments to higher officials depending on police stations they are assigned to. Many come with minor health problems and investigations reveal their ailments are stress-related,” a psychologist said on condition of anonymity.
Personal, domestic problemsUnion Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary replying to a question on suicide by police personnel asked by MPs T.G. Venkatesh and Supriya Sule said that the causative factors in most of the cases were personal and domestic problems such as marital discords, personal enmity, mental illness, depression. In a few cases it could be owing to work-related stress, he said.
The Minister said the Union Government had been advising the state governments on improving the working conditions of their police personnel and on undertaking necessary welfare measures.
(Reporting by P. Rammohan (Nizamabad), K.M. Dayashankar (Karimnagar), R. Avadhani (Sangareddy) & Ravi Reddy (Hyderabad)
