On February 27, the National Police Federation (NPF) released a report that shows increasing mental health challenges for Canada's RCMP members. The report, Behind the Badge: Revealing Escalating Mental Health Injuries Among RCMP Members, is based on University of Regina research.
Dr. Nicholas Carleton, psychology professor and the scientific director of the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT), is a lead author of the study. He says this RCMP-specific study was designed similarly to a 2017 study that looked at a spectrum of Canadian public safety personnel, such as firefighters, police officers, and paramedics, which allows him and his team to compare the results.
"When compared to CIPSRT's previous studies, this new research reveals that the mental health of serving RCMP members is getting worse," says Carleton. "In a separate 2023 study, my team found that RCMP cadets start with better mental health and more resilience than the general population. The evidence suggests, then, that the mental-health challenges of serving members are a result of what they experience in their service."
Between June 2022 to February 2023, University of Regina researchers and the NPF surveyed a representative sample of actively serving RCMP members. They gathered information about members' mental health, exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events, awareness of mental health supports, operational and organizational stressors, and mental health training.
The main findings of the report include:
- RCMP members, through the function of their service, are exposed to a variety of potentially psychologically traumatic events, while experiencing significant organizational and operational stressors.
- RCMP members reported on average exposure to at least 13 of the 17 different types of potentially psychologically traumatic events, well beyond the two most people will experience over the course of their lifetime. Examples include a sudden violent death, a physical assault, and a serious transport accident.
- On any given shift, RCMP members could be exposed to traumatic events, such as sudden violent death, assault with a weapon, and serious transport accidents.
- Operational and organizational stressors, such as negative public feedback, fatigue, staff shortages, and resource constraints, exacerbate the challenges they face.
- The results of frequent exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events, unique and challenging stressors, and inadequate mental health supports lead to a high prevalence of mental-health disorders and suicidal behaviour.
- RCMP members are six times more likely to screen positive for any mental health disorder than the general population.
- RCMP members are almost twice as likely to screen positively for generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder as other public safety personnel, and more than twice as likely to screen positively for post-traumatic stress disorder and panic disorder.
Carleton says the results from the study are extremely concerning for RCMP members and law enforcement personnel more broadly.
"We all expected participants to report that things had become more stressful since our last study, but I was surprised and concerned at how much more intense the stress and challenges had become," says Carleton. "The stark reality is that RCMP members are more than three times more likely to have contemplated suicide in the past year and more than five times more likely to have planned it."
Carleton and his team also provide a series of recommendations to help address the mental-health challenges RCMP members face, including: implementing screening measures for RCMP members to help with early identification of a post-traumatic stress injury; earlier access to care; allocated time to complete mental-health training; and mental-health training and independent mental-health monitoring as a required component of the cadet training program, and then continued regularly during member careers.
More details can be found in the report, Behind the Badge: Revealing Escalating Mental Health Injuries Among RCMP Members.
The data and analysis from this RCMP-only study was supported by both the NPF and the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT) and will be published in a series of peer-reviewed articles.
