Hey, First Responders: Something Better than STFU

It's called Police Mental Health blog, and its author calls it "Emotional Kevlar for Cops." 

Jeff Shannon is both a police officer and a certified Marital and Family Therapist in California. Here is an excerpt of one post, and it's funny plus relevant:

In response to a mass text message to all my cop buddies about the blog and what it�s about, I received multiple versions of this simple reply: �I DON�T GIVE A FUCK.� Cute. Mental health isn�t interesting to most cops. Shrinks are seen as �quacks,� unnecessary, overly-sensitive hippies who want to give hugs all day.

Those hippie-type therapists? I hate them too. I call them "mental-health creeps" and Jeff Shannon is not one of them.

Everything he has written is substantive but not hard to "get" right away: about stress, the police social network, warning signs. He gives names to phenomenon that you see every day, and naming is a powerful analytical tool.

It looks like a great resource, for oneself or to help others. Go check it out, whether you need Kevlar today for somebody or not. Then it's there when you need it, ready-to-hand.

I learned a few things that I can use too. I like it a lot.