Mental Health Survey Results

Posted on Posted in Announcements, News and Announcements

Background

Last month our three organizations came together to discuss and survey the status of mental health support services available to LGBTQ+ public safety employees.  We recognize that even under normal circumstances stress from the job and from being a member of the LGBTQ+ community can be overwhelming and that mental health support specifically for LGBTQ+ public safety members can be hard to find.  

To confirm our suspicions, we conducted a survey of LGBTQ+ members of law enforcement, the fire service, and emergency medical services.  

Survey Results

We estimate that 10% of the people we invited to participate actually contributed to the survey.  The following data represents the input from 87 people.

Findings

The good news is that public safety agencies as a whole recognize the need to provide mental health support services.  While peer support programs are popular, LGBTQ+ employees more often prefer to seek help outside of the agency.  There are very few mental health services available specifically for LGBTQ+ public safety employees.  

The survey asked several questions and from those questions we found the following.

  • There are many options for accessing mental health services specific to public safety.
  • There are some, but not as many, mental health services specific to LGBTQ+ people.
  • It’s rare for find mental health services offering support specific to LGBTQ+ members of public safety.
  • Overwhelmingly, respondents said that mental health services specific to LGBTQ+ public safety employees is desperately needed.

These results did not surprise us, but confirmed there is a general lack of access to mental health support and that this support is highly desirable.  

Resources We Know About

  1. SAFE CALL NOW * HAVE A CRISIS LINE (POLICE/ FIRE/ EMS)  FAITH BASED, BUT LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY
  2. CODE 9 PROJECT (POLICE/ FIRE/ EMS)
  3. BLUE HELP (L.E. SPECIFIC)
  4. SUICIDE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT (L.E. SPECIFIC)
  5. CODE 1 WELLNESS (POLICE/ FIRE/ EMS)
  6. SUICIDE PREVENTION RESOURCE CENTER (POLICE/ FIRE/ EMS)
  7. THE COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE PROJECT (POLICE/ FIRE/ EMS)
  8. REVIVING RESPONDERS * HAVE A CRISIS LINE (POLICE/ FIRE/ EMS)
  9. COP 2 COP (L.E. SPECIFIC)
  10. SHARE THE LOAD (FIRE & EMS SPECIFIC)
  11. HELPFORPOLICE.COM (POLICE/ FIRE/ EMS)
  12. LIFELINE CRISIS CHAT * HAVE A CRISIS LINE  (POLICE/ FIRE/ EMS)
  13. NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE ****NOT PUBLIC SAFETY SPECIFIC
  14. THE TREVOR PROJECT * HAVE A CRISIS LINE (LGBTQ+ SPECIFIC)
  15. TRANSLIFELINE.ORG * HAVE A CRISIS LINE (Trans* oriented, but NOT L.E. friendly!)
  16. THRIVE HOTLINE * HAVE A CRISIS LINE (LGBTQ+ SPECIFIC)  
  17. SAGE (ELDER lgbtq+) * HAVE A CRISIS LINE (LGBTQ+ SPECIFIC)  
  18. GLBT NATIONAL HELP CENTER * HAVE A CRISIS LINE (LGBTQ+ SPECIFIC)