Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Ethics Playing Cards
Copyright © 2025 Compass Ethics
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During a busy period at work, you experience a bereavement. Is it okay to ask for support?
Case Studies
- You deal with a harrowing incident at work, but you just can’t stop thinking about it. What can you do about it?
- A relative that you grew up with but is not immediate family, has just passed away. You don’t talk about your childhood with your colleagues and have no desire to do so now. But this is a very challenging time. What do you do?
- A close friend has just committed suicide. Do you tell anyone at work?
- Your colleague is going through a relationship breakup and is clearly tired and distracted at work. What do you do?
Discussion
We all have a responsibility to look after each other, regardless of rank or role.
- Are you aware that somebody on your team might have suffered a similar experience? If they are prepared to talk about it, this can be an important way of processing and dealing with challenging situations.
- Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) is an important part of providing support for colleagues. Engaging with (and ensuring that it is provided for your personnel) is key to positive outcomes for many people, and engaging early rather than at the end of a long wait is important. Having colleagues who are trained and empowered to support each other is important for dealing with some of the challenges that police and police staff can be faced with.
- If it was someone else, how do you feel the person would seek help and support and if they would not seek support themselves, how might you assist them without intruding into their personal space?
- What else might the force be able to do to help? For example, is there an opportunity to role model, and during team briefings/town halls / e-comms, senior people can talk about the situations they went through and how they got the support they need / would do it differently next time around?
Asking for help is often the hardest and bravest thing that you can do. It is a sign of strength rather than weakness.
Although there is a wealth of evidence that having a supportive line manager can help protect your mental health, leaders are human too. As such, more senior leaders should keep an active eye on more junior ones and check how they are doing. If they show signs of presenteeism—that is, working less effectively because of poor mental health—this will directly affect the operational capability and health of all team members, and thus early identification and support are key.
Given the unfortunate stigma that is still wrongly associated with seeking help, it is often difficult for people to ask for it, meaning it is up to leaders to recognise and address this. Supporting those who may not wish to be supported is also important, especially those who might be “too busy”, as avoidance is a key symptom of trauma.
Although there is a wealth of evidence that having a supportive line manager can help protect your mental health, leaders are human too. As such, more senior leaders should keep an active eye on more junior ones and check how they are doing. If they show signs of presenteeism—that is, working less effectively because of poor mental health—this will directly affect the operational capability and health of all team members, and thus early identification and support are key.
Given the unfortunate stigma that is still wrongly associated with seeking help, it is often difficult for people to ask for it, meaning it is up to leaders to recognise and address this. Supporting those who may not wish to be supported is also important, especially those who might be “too busy”, as avoidance is a key symptom of trauma.