Health and Wellbeing

The narratives of the participants identify other contributing factors to post-service job satisfaction concerns. The way in which the mental health issues impact the transition process is significant because it is difficult to ascertain the extent to which these issues affect the job satisfaction of the participants post-service, and therefore, it is difficult to distinguish any single cause. The transition challenges must be addressed with the assumption of underlying emotional and mental health issues, but not exclusively focused on them.  

With many actual diagnoses of PTSD and the volume of emotionally laden data, it is important to examine whether there are differences in the psychological states across the three service groups, and how this impacts the transition period. Starting with the police, approximately four out of five participants were either diagnosed with PTSD or self-diagnosed. In particular, the police participants voiced frustration at PTSD not being managed appropriately at an organisational level, or that individuals did not take the steps they needed to acknowledge the issue and seek help. Abigail explained: 

You know, most coppers I know that have left the job have been diagnosed with PTSD. And, they are, they’re messed up, a lot of them. A lot of them are messed up. You know, that’s quite tragic when they’re, when you think about it, because they don’t get, they should get some sort of psychological support following leaving the police force. Cause they struggle. A lot of them really struggle.  

Further, the effect of PTSD on former police needs to be accounted for when considering their transition into civilian life. Not just from the perspective of the management of their mental health, but to fully understand why transitioning to non-service employment is not as easy as it might be for others. Natalie described the following: 

I know and that’s the hard thing, it’s, that people don’t realise is that you know I still have post-traumatic stress disorder, I still struggle with a whole lot of that stuff. And it’s not just a job, people who haven’t been in the police or haven’t, that don’t know police or know law enforcement or military personnel, they don’t understand, they do just think it’s a job and they don’t, they don’t, they question what the big deal is. But you don’t realise that it literally takes over your life, it becomes who you are. And trying to let go of that and become this normal person, it is a struggle.  

The former military participants experienced similar frustrations to the former police participants, but were less focused on the organisational responsibility of the military for their employees’ transition, and more focused on the difficulties of managing life outside the service with mental health issues. Harry explained: 

And that obviously carries into other careers and carries into my life and what it’s actually done is, in some ways, it’s made me a very, I guess, cold person at times, a very angry person at times. And has, had quite a significant impact on my relationship with both my wife and moreso my older son, he’s 14. And it’s only been in the last probably 12 months that I’ve come to grips, or come to the terms with that and sought help, both, both medication and counselling to try and curb my, I don’t know if anger’s the right word, but anger or aggression or…  

All emergency services participants described mental health issues to some extent, although there was great variation between participants. They were forthcoming with their descriptions and own understanding of their issues, and whilst some were most affected in post-service employment as a result of these issues, others were coping fine following distance from the service employment. Walter explained: 

Yeah I have…you know I’ve been to a number of, a number of things that… you know… but I think, I think I’ve learnt to deal with it quite well myself. And I mean… I… you know everyone has their moments where you… you know… something happens and that thought… you know… that thought pops back into your head… but you know I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. But on the whole, I think I’ve been pretty lucky compared to some guys I’ve worked with and other guys I’ve seen.  

For emergency services, this acceptance may be their coping mechanisms, organisational handling, or their treatment options. No direct questioning was conducted in this area.  

With more than 80 percent of the participants describing themselves as suffering either a diagnosed psychological condition, or an undiagnosed but symptomatic emotional state, from their time in either the police, military or emergency services, the ways in which emotional and psychological factors impact transition cannot be ignored. PTSD and related or similar mental health issues as well as physical injury can have a direct impact on life satisfaction, which in turn can impact job satisfaction, or vice versa. It is difficult to measure with this group how much of their job satisfaction in their new employment is related to their health and wellbeing, which many described as far below par when compared to how they were when they first entered the service organisation. This was expressed in the same manner across all three services and for both men and women. Amongst all participants, there was a mixture of despondency, resolved acceptance, frustration, anger, and defeat apparent in the narration of each individual’s transition experience. This was clear from the tone and content of answers, and the way in which they described different elements of their life, both in and out of service. For approximately six participants there was an acute level of fear. For one, this was associated with the risk of being recalled to service within the five-year period after transitioning from the military; but for the others this was associated with the volatility of their employment status post-service, and constant worry about not having a job. This was worse for those participants with the responsibilities associated with family, such as mortgages, and other expenses related to children.  

If transition, as a term, is going to be used for the separation of these individuals from the service organisations then the definition of a ‘successful’ transition needs to be well established. Work in the area of self-efficacy is important for injured military veterans but more research is required to confirm whether the same necessity exists for other dangerous roles such as law enforcement and fire fighters (Schmaltz, 2011). For this group, self-efficacy contributed to their transition and they had all achieved new employment, but it did little to improve their job satisfaction in the new position. New employment may be the typical measure of successful transition, particularly from an organisational perspective, but the individual’s job satisfaction impacts on their life satisfaction and needs to be included in the definition of successful transition. This is particularly important for future transition processes to make them as effective as possible for both the organisation and the individual.