We have discussed in previous issues that officers, having gone through a critical incident, may experience different degrees of stress reaction that are considered to be normal psychological responses. However, some officers may be at risk of developing more severe mental problems like Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and other anxiety disorders.

Knowing the possible impact of critical incidents, you may ask "what should we do to protect our mental well-being?". To address the issue, the concept of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM), developed by two psychologists Jeffrey Mitchell and George Everly, was now widely adopted in Western countries like the United States and the United Kingdom.

CISM refers to a system of interventions following a traumatic incident to prevent or mitigate the adverse psychological impact on emergency personnel. These interventions include pre-incident education, on-scene demobilisation (a short talk given immediately after a critical incident, which aims to provide a transition period before returning to the world of routine), psychological debriefing by mental health professionals and individual counselling.

The Psychological Services Group has been proactive in providing such services to Force members. Specifically, we have offered psychological debriefing services to officers exposed to different kinds of critical incidents. Just to name a few, debriefing services were provided to officers involved in the riot incident at Hei Leng Chau Detention Centre and the Immigration Tower fire in the past year.

Psychological debriefing is conducted by Police Clinical Psychologists, and is best taken within the first two weeks of the critical incident (if the arrangement can be made). It is not counselling, and takes the form of a group meeting or discussion that focuses on the relief of stress in normal, emotionally-healthy people. Voluntary participation, mutual respect and confidentiality are emphasised in the process.

The whole process usually lasts two hours. During the debriefing, participants are invited to share their roles, thoughts and distress related to the incident. Education about stress reaction and coping strategies will be given to avoid development of false concepts in participants about critical incident stress reactions, which may contribute to further distress about one's own atypical reactions.

While some officers believe "talking about the incident will not help much", research findings indicate psychological debriefing is a well-received intervention for most people. It is useful for providing correct information on mental health, screening at-risk individuals for further follow up, and assisting organisational morale and team spirit if it is done properly. Of course, individual officers under acute distress following a traumatic incident may require a more active follow up, probably psychological treatments.

Seek advice and help from the Psychological Services Group: PHQ, Hong Kong Island and Marine: 2866-6206 (5/F, 111 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay); Kowloon and the New Territories: 2735-3739 (22/F, Ocean Building, 80 Shanghai Street, Kowloon).





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