7 Tips to Prevent & Treat Burnout as a Police Officer
Being a police officer isn’t just what you do; it’s who you are, and it often involves navigating work related stress. But law enforcement stress is real, and many law enforcement officers feel it rising over the past few years. When tough shifts stack up, police stress can turn into police burnout faster than you expect.
You are asked to carry other people’s worst days, then go home and be present with family members. For law enforcement officers and law enforcement personnel across the police force, that is not a small ask; especially when law enforcement agencies and police departments are stretched thin with fewer officers than ever.
I'm Kristen Plake (LCSW), founder of Frontline Wellness Group and I have seen how organizational stressors, operational demands, and traumatic stress intersect in everyday police profession. Research shows a significant correlation between occupational stress, exposure and outcomes, burnout, health concerns, and emotional exhaustion.
The bottom line: police officer burnout is not a personal failure. It’s a predictable response to chronic operational stress within modern police practice. You can prevent it within police organizations; and if it’s already present, you can recover.
Tips for Police Burnout Prevention
You don’t have to wait for a crisis to act. Noticing warning signs early and addressing common police stressors, along with stress management training, will reduce psychological distress and protects your foundation.
1. Prioritize Physical Well-Being
How to do it: Guard your sleep, fuel with actual meals (not just coffee), and move your body regularly (short workouts count). Anchor your routine around recovery so your physical health and well being isn’t an afterthought.
Why it helps: Quality sleep and movement stabilize stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, protect physical health, lower elevated stress levels, and reduce perceived stress. These are all critical for avoiding emotional exhaustion.
Therapist insight: "Neglecting your body quickly weakens your mind, stacking risk factors that make you more vulnerable to police burnout. Think small wins: an extra hour of sleep, a better breakfast, ten minutes of stretching before shift. These can support both long term and short term impact."
2. Develop Strong Coping Skills
How to do it: Build coping skills and coping strategies you’ll actually use: tactical breathing after stressful calls, five-minute mindfulness, journaling in the cruiser, a hobby that pulls your attention off duty. Watch for negative coping mechanisms; especially self destructive behavior and alcohol abuse - and replace them early.
Why it helps: Healthy habits lower psychological distress, prevent mental health problems, and buffer job satisfaction and job stress before it snowballs.
Therapist insight: "You’re trained to “push through,” and that saves lives. But resilience is also a skill set like any other part of police training. It's just as vital to the job, alongside support from mental health providers."
3. Cultivate Peer Support
How to do it: Invest in therapy and peer support and formal programs or informal check-ins. After tough calls, talk it out with someone who truly gets it.
Why it helps: Authentic social support lowers isolation and protects morale through various protective factors for police health when job dissatisfaction and organizational stress is high. It’s also a quiet driver of officer retention.
Therapist insight: "Culture matters. When police leadership backs peer support, it normalizes care and keeps good people in the work. That’s how wellness becomes part of the team’s foundation."
Why Early Action Matters for Officer Retention
Burnout doesn’t just impact the individual officer, it affects entire police departments. When the mental health of our officers are ignored, officers may withdraw, make more mistakes, or develop negative behavioral or work related outcomes that hurt team cohesion. Over time, unresolved work related stress will contribute to lower morale and pushes good people to leave the police force altogether.
Early recognition and support make a real difference. When officers are offered stress management training, regular check-ins, and meaningful peer support, it strengthens overall police health. That support can reduce emotional exhaustion and keep officers engaged in their work. Departments that take wellness seriously see improved performance, fewer sick days, and stronger officer retention.
Investing in early action isn’t just about helping individual law enforcement officers; it’s about protecting the strength of the agency as a whole. A healthier workforce means safer communities, steadier response in critical incidents, and a more sustainable future for policing.
How to Recover from Police Burnout
If you’re already feeling it, you’re not alone. Recovery starts with telling the truth about how the job is weighing on you after repeated critical incidents.
4. Seek Professional Mental Health Support
How to do it: Work with a therapist who understands police mental health issues, emergency mental health, especially for emergency service workers police culture, and trauma. Ask about confidentiality, annual wellness visits, and psychological assessments that meet your department’s post traumatic stress disorder standards.
Why it helps: Targeted care addresses mental health struggles linked to post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and cumulative trauma exposure. Many clinicians specialize in police wellness.
Therapist insight: "Therapy isn’t about any sort of weakness. It is about staying fit for duty. Early support is resilient building - you can view participating in both psychotherapy and occupational medicine as a protective vest for your nervous system. "
5. Re-Evaluate Work-Life Balance
How to do it: Create clear boundaries between shifts and your personal life. Prioritize time with family, hobbies, and rest. If at all possible, talk with police leadership about scheduling adjustments or resources to help balance the demands of your workload
Why it helps: Strong boundaries reduce work related stress and emotional exhaustion, improving both personal wellness and officer retention. Departments that support balance see fewer negative behavioral outcomes and healthier team performance.
Therapist insight: “I had an officer say to me, "When I hang up my uniform in my locker at the end of my shift, that's where the work stays." Your identity isn’t just the badge. Being able to invest in your life relationships, faith, sports, or whatever fills you up will creates protective factors that make you more effective on duty.”
6. Consider Mindfulness Practices
How to do it: Start small with guided meditation apps, tactical breathing, or noticing tension in your body between calls. Even two or three minutes of intentional breathing can help reset after acute stress.
Why it helps: Mindfulness lowers psychological distress, regulates stress hormones, and helps you stay grounded in the present. Over time, it strengthens resilience and reduces the toll of repeated traumatic events.
Therapist insight: “Mindfulness isn’t about being ‘zen’ during a call; it’s about training your brain to shift gears when needed. Focusing on what happens before and after a call is what creates real change when you find yourself in the middle of a crisis. For patrol officers especially, it’s a way to quiet the noise, regain focus, and stay alert and ready.”
7. Engage in Debriefing & Processing
How to do it: After critical incidents, prioritize structured debriefs or small-group huddles. Tools like the Critical Incident History Questionnaire can help map exposure over time, not just the “big one,” but cumulative hits from calls like domestic violence and fatal crashes.
Why it helps: Moving acute stress into words keeps it from getting stuck and turning into posttraumatic stress disorder. The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin and previous research has long highlighted post-incident processing as essential; repeated traumatic events are part of the job, and so is structured recovery.
Therapist insight: "Not every conversation needs to be in a professional or clinical capacity. It just needs to be honest. For many officers, starting with peer support feels more approachable. Over a long career of police work, that openness functions like armor that doesn't weigh you down."
Police Officer Burnout Self-Check
If you’re wondering whether you’re close to the edge, scan for these warning signs: snapping at family members, sleep that never feels restorative, headaches or stomach issues, growing detachment from police work, intrusive flashbacks, and a slide back to negative coping mechanisms when stress spikes.
None of this means you’re broken. It just means your system is asking for a reset. It needs time, tools, and a plan that fits your life as an officer.
Final Thoughts
Police officer burnout is common and addressable. When organizational stress is high and critical incidents and traumatic events keep coming, leaning on peer support, building coping skills, and getting timely help from mental health professionals can change the way you show up and do the work. Departments that integrate wellness into policy - from stress management training to community ties through community policing end up protecting police long term health and performance.
As a therapist who works with Frontline Workers, I’m here to provide confidential help that will allow you to stabilize, heal, and stay resilient for the work without losing yourself in it. If you’re noticing these signs mentioned or want to get ahead of the game, reach out. Your future and your family are worth it.
References
Correia, I., Almeida, A., & Jeanmart, C. (2023). Protecting Police Officers Against Burnout. Psych. Open-access review of burnout determinants and prevention strategies for officers. PMC
Violanti, J. M., et al. (2017). Police stressors and health: A state-of-the-art review. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health & Human Resilience (PMC). Synthesis linking stress exposure with mental and physical outcomes. PMC
Weiss, D. S., Brunet, A., et al. (2010). The Critical Incident History Questionnaire for Police Officers. International Journal of Stress Management (PMC). Development/validation of CIHQ; cumulative exposure tracking. PMC
Gershon, R. R. M., et al. (2009). Mental, Physical, and Behavioral Outcomes Associated with Perceived Work Stress in Police Officers. Criminal Justice and Behavior. Classic study on perceived stress, health, and coping. SAGE Journals
Chopko, B. A., Palmieri, P. A., & Adams, R. E. (2015). Critical Incident History Questionnaire replication: Frequency and severity of trauma exposure among officers from small and midsize police agencies. Journal of Traumatic Stress (PubMed). Exposure patterns across critical incidents. PubMed
Queirós, C., et al. (2020). Job Stress, Burnout and Coping in Police Officers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (PMC). Links stress, burnout, and coping resources in policing. PMC
Jetelina, K. K., et al. (2020). Prevalence of Mental Illness and Mental Health Care Use Among Police Officers. JAMA Network Open (PMC). U.S. prevalence and care-seeking patterns. PMC
Purba, A., et al. (2019). The relationship between organisational stressors and police officer mental wellbeing: A systematic review. BMC Public Health. Organizational drivers of mental health outcomes. BioMed Central
Stogner, J., et al. (2020). Police Stress, Mental Health, and Resiliency during the COVID-19 Pandemic. American Journal of Criminal Justice (PMC). Contemporary context for stress and resilience. PMC
Santre, S., et al. (2024). Mental Disorders and Mental Health Promotion in Police Officers: A Review. Healthcare (PMC). Intervention programs and wellness promotion in policing. PMC
