HEALTH
LEAN INTO THE POWER OF
AUTONOMOUS SUPPORT
By Jess Ward , CEO of Athinka
LOTS OF PEOPLE WILL TRY TO CONVINCE YOU TO JUST ASK FOR HELP AT THE FIRST SIGN OF TROUBLE .
I ’ M NOT ONE OF THEM .
In Florida in 2020 , a suicide prevention task force conducted a statewide mental health survey with 189 police and fire agencies responding . For context , the predominant mental health assistance service offered ( by 94 % of participating agencies ) was an Employee Assistance Program ( EAP ) and counseling .
According to the findings published in the subsequent report , the top two reasons employees failed to access those resources were :
STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH SEEKING / RECEIVING MENTAL HEALTH CARE 59 %
AVAILABILITY OF CULTURALLY COMPETENT RESOURCES ( 23 %)
These numbers tell a story . Both barriers point directly to the same issue – firefighters don ’ t use the mental health outlets available because those resources don ’ t fit their identity . Period .
Distilled into a simple excuse , this might sound like : “ My tribe doesn ’ t do this , so I don ’ t do this , and I definitely don ’ t want to do it with you if you ’ re outside the tribe .”
It ’ s easy to dismiss cultural factors as potentially playing a part in the choice we make to exit a tough situation . But that ’ s exactly what ’ s happening when we encourage breaking the stigma . It goes against deeply entrenched traditions in the fire service , including belonging to the firehouse , the firefighter character or identity , and its associated behaviors .
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