RCMP under fire for lack of mental health help for officers

The RCMP are coming under fire for failing to provide adequate mental health support to members dealing with traumatic situations on the job.

The criticism comes fromthose who have seen the toll on RCMP members first-hand, including widows andexperts, as well as fromcurrent members and veterans.

• INTERACTIVE | Meet 7 officers who struggled with mental illness on the job

Linda Perchaluk of Roblin, Man., told CBC News the national police forcedidnt take her husbands mental health problems seriously until it was too late.

Her husband,Const.AdrienGulay,committed suicide inAugust.He was 45 years old.

I would phone and fax and email and they would just tell me they couldnt do anything more,Perchaluksaid.

When two RCMP officers came to her door the morning after Gulay died, Perchaluk said she angrily confronted them.

I said, Where the hell were you a year ago?You come here now to tell me he is dead? I have been begging for help for this long and now you come? Get out, because I dont want to see you, she recalled.

CBC News has spoken to more than a dozen RCMP members and veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and occupational stress injuries, as well asthree spouses who have lost their husbands to suicide.

Spiralled into depression

During a call to a rowdy house party in Roblin three years ago,Gulay was covered in blood after a man who had hepatitis C was thrown through a plate glass window.

This kid was crazy and blood got sprayed everywhere,and he was sliced and he was bleeding profusely, Perchaluk said.

She said her husband spiralled into depression, drank excessively and abused prescription drugs as he waited for testresults to see if he had contracted the virus.

He would go to bed at night and wake up screaming because there was blood everywhere, she said. Those six months of waiting were hell.

The RCMP failed to co-ordinate her husbands recovery, saidPerchaluk, adding that the force did notlisten to her despite herincreasingly desperate contacts with the detachment, his doctors and with headquarters.

He may come into your office and say everything is fine.But look, I've changed his sheets every night because hes passed out with a drink in his hand, she said.

Services not provided to families

The RCMP would notcomment on specific cases,but Assistant Commissioner Gilles Moreau said the police forcedoes notprovide direct services such as therapy to families.

It's up to the member to decide, 'Yes, I'll go see this person,' Moreau said.

It is a phone call away. We have access to the [employee assistance program]services from Health Canada.

Perchaluk said that in Gulays case, he was too distraught and on too much medication to know what he needed. She said the RCMP did notlisten to what she said was happening at home.

Moreau said its also the responsibility of the detachment commander to look at the situation and monitor the member to ensure he or she isusing the services that are available.

Perchaluk said she believes that in her husbands case, members of his detachment wouldnt admit how troubled he was.

There is no support at work, she said. No one wants to dirty their hands with another member's issues.

Gulay resigned from the force in July 2013 and took his life less than a month later.

Stigma in the ranks

CBC Newshas obtained statistics from Veterans Affairs Canada that show the number of RCMP members and veterans receiving disability pensions because of mental illness has almost doubled in the last five years.

Almost three-quarters of those cases are due to PTSD.

Experts told CBC Newsthe RCMP needs to change its culture in order to properly assess injured members, reduce stigma and get members the help they need.

Dr. Mike Webster,a clinical psychologist who has counselled RCMP members suffering from occupational traumatic stress injuries,said that with proper after-care, the traumatized members can return to work.

However, Webster said, thatdoesnt happen regularly in the RCMP.

If the member is exposed to a traumatic event on the job and now the employer treats the member in a caring and supportive way, that will trigger their resilience, he said.

If the employer responds in an antagonistic, combative or in a hostile manner,then this tends to exacerbate this individuals problems.

Ontario OmbudsmanAndre Marinauthored a study last yearcalled In the Line of Fire, looking at how the Ontario Provincial Police dealt with traumatized members.

Hisreport was critical of the OPPs handling of occupational stress injuries.

Marin said the RCMP needs to reduce the stigma of occupational stress injuries from the top down.

The first thing to do is to denounce the culture that they are superheroes and anyone who suffers from an operational stress injury is a wimp or a coward," he said.

Our conclusion of the investigation was police services find themselves where the military was 15, 20 years ago in not accepting operational stress injury as a valid injury that's caused by their job. he added.

Too little, too late?

The RCMP'sMoreauargued thatthe stigma of mental illness among the force'sranks is diminishing, which allows more people to access health services, and that could explain the increased number of members on disability.

That's what we want.If you need help, use it, it's there. he said.

Being able to come out and say I need help is the key thing to making sure that we keep a healthy workplace.

Perchaluk said herhusband attempted suicide twice in the years following his exposure to hepatitis C-tainted blood.

The RCMP knew how sick he was,but they wouldnt intervene, she added.

Perchaluksaid their marriage was dissolving and the two were going through a messy separation at the time of his suicide.

Citing confidentiality, the RCMP saiditdoes nottrack suicides among itsranks,nor does it track how many members areon long-term stress leave.

One of the recommendations from Marins report is that police organizations should track suicides and cases of occupational stress injuries in order to fully understand the scope of the problem.

If you don't track it, it's easy to pretend it doesn't exist, Marin said.

Police force is changing

Moreau said the RCMP arelooking at strengthening existing programs,and there is a strong leadership commitment to addressingmental health issues.

Moreau said he welcomes all members and their families to come forward and tell their stories.

We're police officers and we're supposed to be tough and all this, but we are human beings, he said.

We haven't completely changed our culture, but I can tell you that it is changing and it is evolving.

The RCMP are investigating Gulays suicide. In an emailed statement, officials saidone member suicide is one case too many.

Perchaluk said she doesnt want occupational stress injury to destroy another RCMP family.

If I could save a marriage, a life if its the only good thing I do in my life, I'll be happy. she said.