A FORMER police officer has revealed the true horrors of the mental health crisis in the UK which led him to nearly take his own life.
Rob Hosking, 31, left the force after five years, unable to cope with trauma, such as suicide, on “an almost daily basis”.
Rob when he was in the police force – he quit after five years due to the things he saw on the frontline
Rob says police officers are used to seeing trauma every day
The UK’s mental health services are in dire straits due to years of austerity, and often emergency services take on the burden.
A person should never delay in seeking help in a mental health crisis in which there is risk of harm – either by calling 999, going straight to A&E or calling an urgent mental health helpline.
But the Royal College of Psychiatry has said almost eight in ten of those on a waiting list reported that they were forced to resort to emergency service in the absence of support while their mental health worsened.
Emergency services get tens of thousands of calls a year, and now, police forces are scaling back how many they respond to.
It comes as the Police Federation’s annual survey found one in five officers plan to quit the force in the next two years in the wake of complaints of poor pay, declining mental health and low morale.
Manchester-based Rob admits if he hadn’t taken the step to quit the stress of a job that had a huge detrimental effect on his own mental and physical health, he may well have been one of the statistics that sees “one police officer end their life every fortnight”.
Rob joined Police Scotland as a first response officer but has been left scarred, recently diagnosed with PTSD after suffering from night terrors since leaving the job in 2020.
He told The Sun: “Having seen people who are suffering from mental health illness or traumas myself, it really does open your eyes to the crisis we are facing in the UK.
“When I worked as a first response officer, 80 per cent of the calls coming in were from those needing help – whether that was someone trying to take their own life or a depressive.
“I found it incredibly stressful witnessing trauma on an almost daily basis and I was having to make very difficult life-and-death decisions. I would be constantly asking myself ‘Could I have done something different to help save someone’s life?’
“The sad reality is many people feel helpless and don’t see a way out. But the NHS doesn’t have the resources to help them. The Government needs to put more money in to resource it to make sure these people are seen to.”
Right from the word go, Rob, who now gives motivational talks, was thrown in at the deep end.
“I remember being this bright-eyed 22-year-old who had just joined the police,” he recalled.
“In week two, we attended a call where a man, who was also a hoarder and alcoholic, hadn’t been seen for three weeks.
On what was to be my last ever shift, a young 21-year-old male took his own life in front of me.
Rob
“We went to his property and found him there. He had two cats and they had started eating him because they hadn’t been fed.
“The worst thing is though, that kind of sight is something that isn’t abnormal.
“A police officer in their career will experience 400 to 600 traumatic incidents compared to three to four for those who aren’t in the force.
“I can remember that night getting home and having a shower to desperately try to get the smell of death off my clothes.
Rob’s harrowing admission lays bare the true state of the mental health crisis in Britain today.
Figures published last year revealed that ambulance services spent 1.8million hours dealing with mental health calls in 2021/22.
Worse still, the Metropolitan Police announced last May it would stop attending emergency calls related to mental health incidents unless there was a threat to life or crime being committed. Other police forces are also to attend fewer callouts.
‘I was on the brink – my dog saved me’
Regularly being sent out to persuade people not to take their own life, Rob admits the toll of seeing people in such terrible states understandably began to implode on him.
He says: “I lost two and a half stone in weight over the five years I was in the police.
“I am five foot ten and I dropped down to nine stone. I was skipping meals, sleeping all day, I had dark bags under my eyes and it really did have such a determinantal effect on me.
“I put a mask on though, and I hid it from those closest to me.
“It got to the point two and a half years in after I first joined that my own mental health had deteriorated so much, I found myself wishing I was on the bridge instead of those who I was trying to talk down.
“Eventually, I did make plans to take my own life but on the day I decided to do it, I was saved by my dog, Louis.
“He gave me such a big lick of affection that I realised someone in life wanted me to keep going and loved me.
“Worryingly, every two weeks, a police officer takes their own life. I could have been in that statistic. A lot more needs to be done in society but unless you are on the frontline, you can’t see the full picture.”
It took a further two years before he finally plucked up the courage to quit in order to save his own mental health.
He says: “On what was to be my last ever shift, a young 21-year-old male took his own life.
“I couldn’t get to him in time and I felt so helpless watching someone die in front of me. It was only 9am and I had the whole shift to go.
“Later that day, a colleague collapsed from a heart attack on the shift.
“I had been suffering myself from my knees that kept bothering me and on that same shift, I tore my ACL [ligament].”
Rob had to take five months off work to recover and it was during that time, he decided to quit.
He says: “Tearing my ACL was the final nail in the coffin. I knew I had to focus on what made me happy rather than a job that made me so unhappy and I quit the job.
“As soon as I did, I felt like a new person. The pressure had finally been removed.”
Help for mental health
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support.
The following are free to contact and confidential:
Samaritans, www.samaritans.org, 116 123, jo@samartiands.org.uk
CALM (the leading movement against suicide in men) www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858
Papyrus (prevention of young suicide) www.papyrus-uk.org, 0800 068 41 41
Shout (for support of all mental health) www.giveusashout.org/get-help/, text 85258 to start a conversation
Mind, www.mind.org, provide information about types of mental health problems and where to get help for them. Email info@mind.org.uk or call the infoline on 0300 123 3393 (UK landline calls are charged at local rates, and charges from mobile phones will vary).
YoungMinds run a free, confidential parents helpline on 0808 802 5544 for parents or carers worried about how a child or young person is feeling or behaving. The website has a chat option too.
Rethink Mental Illness, www.rethink.org, gives advice and information service offers practical advice on a wide range of topics such as The Mental Health Act, social care, welfare benefits, and carers rights. Use its website or call 0300 5000 927 (calls are charged at your local rate).
Heads Together, www.headstogether.org.uk, is the a mental health initiative spearheaded by The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales.
Keen to use his experiences in a positive way, Rob retrained as a mental health aider and started giving talks around the UK sharing his story.
He says: “At first, I couldn’t open up without crying. But I had some counselling and I knew I wanted to share my experiences to show how important it is to put yourself first.
“I’ve recently been diagnosed with PTSD from my time in the police. I had been suffering from night terrors that included images of people who had taken their own lives standing at my window.
“Of course, it was just a night terror but I now have the mechanisms to know what to do. I want to share my knowledge to help others.”
This August, he will be one of the keynote speakers at Chris Evans’ Carfest – a festival that raises money for children’s charities which will be running a series of well-being health sessions at its Spafest.
Rob said: “I will be at Spafest, which is part of Carfest, and I find it so rewarding to be able to give something back. The great thing about Carfest is that 100 per cent of all profits are donated to a variety of charities including My Black Dog mental health charity.”
“I am the lucky one and I really do hope the statistics will go down one day. But sadly, having seen it on the frontline myself, I know how bad the situation really is.”
Rob know gives motivational talks about mental health
Rob said: “Eventually, I did make plans to take my own life but on the day I decided to do it, I was saved by my dog, Louis”
After an injury, Rob had time off work, in which time, he decided to change his career path