Meditation to help Police beat stress, boost mental health

Practicing different types of meditations on a regular basis could be the key to reducing stress and improving the mental health of police officers on the beat – according to a James Cook University researcher.

A review of 11 international studies conducted by JCU PhD candidate Jennifer Gaskin has found the usage of Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) has a “small to moderate effect” in reducing overall stress and improving the mental health of police officers.

Delivered over eight weeks, the MBI programs typically included two hour weekly sessions dedicated to teaching participants various meditation practices such as focused attention meditation, body scan, walking meditation and yoga.

“The majority of MBI studies we looked at were based in the US, with others being conducted in Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Brazil,” Ms Gaskin said.

The programs were found to be particularly beneficial in reducing anxiety levels and improving sleep quality for participants.

Ms Gaskin said her analysis of the 11 studies recommended more “potent and longer” programs may have more lasting effects in reducing overall stress for police officers, including regular follow-up sessions.

“We also found that programs that were more specific, or modified, to suit police tended to be not as effective,” she said.

“Some programs incorporated some practices specific for police officers, such as bringing attention to putting on and taking off the uniform and recognising stress reactions through playing recordings of 911 calls during sessions in the United States.”

“We believe for the programs which were modified to suit the culture of policing, police officers didn’t have the opportunity or were less likely to practice mindfulness in daily life. They may have just been using it while they were on shift undertaking their police work.

“The essence of mindfulness is being able to practice it regularly in daily life, so to integrate it into what you’re doing – such as making a cup of coffee or going for a walk outside.”

Ms Gaskin said the next stage of her research will involve a survey exploring whether mindfulness acts a protective factor against stress, and weakens the link between stress and mental health in Australian police officers.

“That’s going to give us some data around the nature of stressors for police in Australia, and an insight into whether the link between stress and mental health of police officers is weakened by mindfulness,” she said.

The survey will cover several areas such as stress specific to police work, sleep patterns, anxiety, depression, whether the officer is stationed in metropolitan, regional, rural or remote localities, and how long a participant has served as a police officer.

“We also include questions around policing administrative processes, leadership inconsistencies, the court system and what we call operational stress - so things like shift work and exposure to trauma,” Ms Gaskin said.

“Overall, I hope that my research can be translated into tangible programs, backed by evidence, to support officers to be able to lower their stress, improve their mental health and reduce the impact of stress on themselves, their families, the organisation and communities.”

Results from the survey will help design a local MBI study involving police officers.

Serving officers and recruits who are employed by an Australian policing agency can participate in the survey by heading to https://jcu.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_25nZmAx7gDyFZcO or email jennifer.gaskin@my.jcu.edu.au

Ms Gaskin’s review was done in association with JCU College of Healthcare Sciences’ Associate Professor Wendy Li and Psychology Senior Lecturer Liza Van Eijk and Margaret Roderick Centre for Mental Health Research Head Professor Zoltan Sarnyai.