Fighting the fires within: breaking down the barriers to mental help-seeking amongst first responders with PTSD and high psychological distress

Results to date indicate that agencies may need to address issues such as stigma or mental health literacy. The former would require a significant shift in culture and attitudes and the latter requires an easier fix that is training programs aimed at increasing mental health literacy and improving understanding of how early intervention and seeking of support can ameliorate development or worsening of mental health conditions/symptoms.

This project identified the strategies and recommendations that emergency services agencies could adopt in order to improve the mental health and wellbeing of their workforce. The focus of this research was on barriers to help-seeking by workers who have developed, or are at risk of developing, serious mental health conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, as a result of their work experiences.