Bik Lee: Hello, my name is Bik Lee and welcome to the pilot episode of That Lincs Police Webcast. Today I’m joined by ACC Chris Davison and today we’re going to be talking about mental health. Chris, thank you so much for joining us.
ACC Chris Davison: My pleasure.
Bik Lee: Can I just ask, what made you agree to want to be on a webcast to talk about mental health?
ACC Chris Davison: It’s so important, about one in four people in the UK is thought to have a mental health issue at any one time. We know that people in the emergency services, and Police in particular, are much more prone to it. But at the same time, some of our culture means that it can be really difficult to admit it when something’s not going right. We’ve had some tragedies in the last few years, and some of us have lost friends or loved ones. It’s too important not to talk about. I think it’s about time that we had the conversation in the open and we were just really honest about mental health, modern life, what it’s like being a Police Officer or a member of Police Staff and how you can get help.
Bik Lee: Definitely, and on that there is a belief from speaking to a lot of people in the Force that if you declare that you’ve got a mental health issue then that stunts your career progression. Can you tell me about your experiences?
ACC Chris Davison: Yeah definitely, that was always something that was going through the service. The kind of culture that people were, and I think some still are to some extent, worried if you admit you’re going through a hard time or you’re going through a mental health challenge that your career is going to be stunted in some way. Or that some jobs will be beyond your reach forever. And that’s partially to blame, I think, for why people don’t talk about their illnesses in exactly the same way as they would if it was a physical illness. In the mental health world, we talk about parity of the esteem which is to say that if you’ve got a mental health condition you should be no more ashamed to talk about it than if you had a physical health condition. If you’d broken your ankle, or you’d broken your arm, you probably wouldn’t be trying to hide it from other people, you’d be able to talk about it. Mental health can often feel much more personal, and that’s what makes it so difficult to talk about. I also think it’s really important that people are more open and role model that. What I mean by that is if you’ve had a mental health struggle of your own and you’re in a position of seniority in the organisation it actually does people good, I think, to know that it is perfectly ok to have had some issues and it doesn’t mean the end of your career. For me, throughout much of my adult life, I’m kind of a depressive character by nature. I have highs and lows in my emotions, I’ve tended to be a bit all over the shop and I’ve been unwell twice, diagnosed within the service. The last time, a couple of years ago, where a whole host of things came together at once. My mum got stage four cancer, my dad, about three weeks later also got cancer, then Covid, then died. I also got some really unfortunate news through work as well and everything just sort of combined at one time; the perfect storm to cause me some difficulties. I think the important learning from me was that actually it wasn’t me that noticed it. I got to a really dark place, and I hadn’t really realised that I got there. It was actually the intervention of people at work that convinced me to get some help. Because I often think it’s easier for other people to notice somebody acting differently or behaving differently, particularly if it’s someone you’ve known a long time or if it’s someone you’ve worked very closely with in an environment like the Police. I think it’s easier for them to broach the conversation than it sometimes is for us to have the conversation with ourselves. I remember really vividly a couple of colleagues separately saying that I wasn’t looking well, that I was looking dishevelled. It wasn’t anyone of Facebook; that’s more recently! Saying that I looked dishevelled, I looked tired and that I seemed moody, and it was actually those people who made me think actually ‘What’s going on?’ and ‘Do I need to go and get some help?’. So, I went and got some help. I tried some medication, first time round it wasn’t very good for me. Second time round, different medication, different entirely and really good for me. I got come counselling. The important thing is that if you suffer a mental health setback the organisation isn’t going to put you to one side and forget about you. It doesn’t mean that you can’t become well again, and it also doesn’t mean that your career’s on hold. My career, touch wood, continues to go pretty well. But that can be the same for anyone in the organisation. We all have really difficult times. We’ll have times where the stresses and strains of modern life have come all at once. I would hate for anybody to bottle up their emotions and bottle up their feelings because they’re afraid about their career. You can always put your career back but it’s really important that people, when either they feel like they need help or somebody else offers them help, that people consider it really openly. I think that’s just so, so important.
Bik Lee: Can I just ask, those two people who came up to you and broached that subject; How did you take that?
ACC Chris Davison: That’s a really good question. One of the people I’ve known since I was 10 so it’s relatively easy for that person to come and say to me ‘you’re not yourself’ because he knows me really, really well. Another friend that I’ve known for about 20 years in the service. There’s a moment where somebody says you’re not doing very well, where your natural pride wants you to soldier on. But I really, really believe that leadership is about making sure that you do what you want others to do, and that you demonstrate what you do. Perhaps the easiest thing for me to do would have been for me to keep soldiering on with the old myth that ‘mental health is something that happens outside the organisation’, go home and have a load of beer and it all goes away. But of course, it doesn’t. The right thing to do was to take the scary step and actually admitting you’re unwell is really scary; it’s more scary than soldiering on because there’s so many unknowns: ‘What’s the doctor going to say, what are other people going to think about me? What happens in a counselling room? I hear all sorts of horror stories about anti-depressants – what’s that going to be like? Am I going to be addicted so some mediation?’. All of these questions are swirling around but actually the anticipation of all those things is much worse than dealing with it. Getting counselling, speaking to people like the Chaplains in Force; it’s all scary stuff. Admitting your vulnerability, particularly if you’re a Police Officer, is really difficult because we’re the people that sort stuff out, out there. But that’s not to say that you can’t suffer here; it’s ok to get help. I usually use the analogy of the car; if you car’s engine warning light came on and you knew you had a long trip to go on, you probably wouldn’t just ignore it. You’d probably take it to the garage and get it seen to. I know we’re a lot more complex than cars, but the analogy holds true. It’s the brave thing to try and do something about it because all of those unknowns are terrifying. Absolutely terrifying but dealing with it is a lot easier than you might think.
Bik Lee: You mentioned that the people who raised it with you were really close friends, and people that knew you well. In a work context if you’re either managing someone or you’re in the same team as someone and you notice it, and you want to say something but you’re not sure. What is the best approach? How would you literally word it?
ACC Chris Davison: It can be really difficult because it’s awkward. It’s a societal taboo that we don’t talk about mental health, but I guarantee you if someone ends up being really poorly whether it’s stress, anxiety or mental health, one of the conversations that happens back in the workplace while those people are off is something like ‘Yeah, I didn’t think they were ok. I saw them the other day and they looked terrible.’ Or ‘I thought for ages it wouldn’t be long’. Actually, the time for those kind of conversations was before the person became so ill that they had to take the time off work. The secret to caring is caring. We should be caring for everyone else who works for the organisation, and particularly if you’re a leader that applies to you. But also, for your peers and workmates, we’ve got to rely on each other. There aren’t many of us, so we’ve got to rely on each other. The thing we have to do is have the difficult conversations, and people don’t want to have that conversation because they don’t want to offend people. But there’s a way to do it, the first thing is: don’t do it in public, always have the conversation in private. Explain why you’re having the conversation, explain that it’s coming from a place of concern. Try and allay people’s fears about what might come. The top is: don’t accept the first answer. If I say to you ‘how are you?’ the societal reflex is to say, ‘I’m fine thanks, how are you?’ but it’s just a social oil. When you’re asking somebody how it is, how they are and how they’re getting on, ask it as a genuine question and listen for their response. And if you’re not convinced, ask again, and explain why you’re asking again. It’s also about looking at the whole person; How are they presenting Are they turning up late? Do they seem distant? Have they got something on their mind? There are all sorts of ways you can tell if somebody isn’t quite on their game. It doesn’t matter how you phrase it, as long as you do. Have the conversation, and if someone’s not in a place to receive the conversation there and then, give it a week and try again. We only get to the truth if we ask the questions.
Bik Lee: One of the things that is tough, because there are a lot of cliches you’ll see on Facebook where people will do the ‘it’s ok not to be ok’ and things like that. But genuinely, if today you listen to this and you think actually, I’m struggling. Maybe it’s a work thing, maybe it’s a personal thing. What is the first step to seeking help? What would you advise?
ACC Chris Davison: The first step to seeking help is admitting you’re not ok. I know there’s a lot out there saying ‘it’s ok not to be ok’ and it’s fine for what it is. But I’ve been our mental health lead for the last decade. I understand mental health legislation, I know the basics about how mental health works, I know some of the main illnesses people get in the service. I’m not a clinician but I’ve been around that partnership working for a long time. I didn’t know that I was as bad as I was until someone pointed it out. The difficult bit was admitting it to myself. The first step to getting help is admitting you’re not well. The second bit is to think about who the best person is for YOU to go and see. So, I would advocate; our health and care team are excellent, our Chaplains are absolutely tremendous and do a fantastic job, your own GP, if you ring up your GP to let them know the extent that you’re suffering and that you need some help, you’ll get help and you’ll get it relatively quick. The NHS route for counselling may take a little longer, but we have some in-house [Lincolnshire Police] provision now. The most important thing is you speak to your line manager, if you can’t speak to your line manager speak to the health and care team direct. Speak to your peers and just let them know how it is that you’re feeling. Make some time to have the conversation. But more important than all of that is for people to have the ‘Are you ok’ question with other people. Ask it more than once because you give people permission to tell the truth, and that’s so, so important because they’ll want to give the façade that they’re ok; not only to you, but also to themselves. And actually, that’s the biggest barrier to people being well is admitting to themselves that they’ve got an issue.
Bik Lee: Thank you so much for chatting with us, Chris, and we’ll put all the link of who to speak to in the notes section. And hopefully you’ll join us again for another webcast soon!
ACC Chris Davison: Absolutely, thanks, it’s been really good.
