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Police officers suffering from post traumatic stress disorder a mental health and public safety issue

If you've ever suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), you know how devastating and debilitating it can be.

PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can set in after the experience of a traumatic event, particularly when the event involved bodily harm or death.

Though individual cases vary, symptoms can range between constant flashback episodes, emotional numbness and even physical manifestations like dizziness or a quickened heart rate. Depression is an unfortunately all-too-common result.

And though it can strike anyone, certain professions lend themselves more freely to PTSD incidents. Imagine a soldier returning from combat or the firefighters who responded to calls at the World Trade Centre buildings on 9/11.

[ Related: Not enough military staff to fight PTSD among returning soldiers: ombudsman ]

Naturally, these symptoms also manifest in police officers, professionals who contend with violence, death and risks to their own safety on a daily basis.

The Toronto Star has run an excellent series of articles exploring PTSD in the Ontario provincial police force and why it deserves our attention.

The feature was spurred by a report set for release later in the month. In the 150-page document, Ontario Ombudsman André Marin addresses the sort of "operational stress injuries" afflicting officers who are made to feel as though succumbing to these psychic injuries would position them as weak or unfit.

One of the retired detective inspectors interviewed by the Star has gone on record with his PTSD, the result of his 29-year career on the force. During this time he found a colleague buried in the snow with three bullet holes in his eyes, shot and killed an escaped convict who was pointing a gun at his partner and dealt with the aftermath of sexual assault on children.The gruesome list goes on.

Now, Bruce Kruger habitually chooses seats in public places that back against a wall, so as to protect himself from the risk of attack from behind. He has been diagnosed with depression and anxiety. He has experienced periods of enormous guilt and rage and is currently taking medications for his condition.

And until now, Kruger has struggled to keep his emotional state from everyone. But a recent spate of officer suicides has inspired him to speak out.

[ Related: Couples therapy helps PTSD sufferers, partners, new study suggests ]

"If an officer was bleeding to death, would he have to wait for help for this length of time?" he told the paper. "PTSD is just another method to die, although a little slower."

The urge for reform — beginning with acknowledgement and encompassing the proper treatment — appears to finally be entering the conversation.

Dr. Lisa Najavits, psychiatry professor at Boston University School of Medicine, stressed the importance of employers and insurance companies giving "respect" to PTSD sufferers, although she acknowledges the complexities involved.

"We know that there are genuine cases and those people should be treated with absolute respect," she told the paper. "There are others who may be gaming the system, so it's a tricky issue."

While there will always be a few people who try to scam the system, here's hoping the stigma will be removed and an effective means of treatment put in place.

Because in the case of police officers, it's more than a question of individual mental health — it's also a public safety issue.