Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the launch of New York’s inaugural first responder mental health needs assessment to better understand the mental health-related challenges facing the public safety community and strengthen programs and services for these professionals.
“We must continue to do better as a field to normalize that “it’s OK to not be OK.” Yes, it’s “normal” to see images of carnage in your community when you are a first responder, and it’s also normal for those things to have a profound effect on your mental health, at which point, it should also be quite normal to seek help.
New York State, in collaboration with the Benjamin Center and the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at SUNY New Paltz, recently released the “New York State First Responder Mental Health Needs Assessment,” which put numbers to the very real experiences that I’ve described above.”
“First responders involved in the study pushed for more training, free therapy, and access to couples or family counseling or peer support groups. Others said they want the state to implement rules that would ease long hours and make medical care less expensive.”
Read Here: First responder stress and depression outpace averages
“We knew the problem was there. We're just really glad that we were able to document the strong need for improving services for this community," said Dr. Amy Nitza, executive director of the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at SUNY New Paltz.
Read Here: The mental health toll on first responders
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