National Conference on Occupational Stress & Mental Health Issues Among Uniformed Personnel

The high prevalence of occupational stress and related manifestations in the form of anxiety, depressive behavior, PTSD, abuse and other mental health problems among personnel of police, CAPFs and armed forces has been a matter of concern. High rates of suicides and even occasional instances of fratricides seriously impact the forces. At the same time, there is a tendency to avoid discussing mental health issues openly, for fear of being stigmatized or ostracized by peers and superiors, being declared unfit for duty, overlooked for promotions or important postings etc.

Occupational stress is also known to manifest itself in the form of fatigue, depression, irritability as well as impulsive, offensive, aggressive and high-handed behavior. This in turn, adversely impacts police–public relations and the quality of policing itself, ultimately resulting in sub- optimal service delivery and an all-round erosion of citizens’ trust in the police.

Indian Police Foundation (IPF) and Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) are partnering with the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) Gandhinagar to hold a two-day National Conference on “Occupational Stress and Mental Health Issues of Uniformed Personnel”

on October 10 & 11, 2019 at IIPH Gandhinagar.

Apart from leaders of the forces, key speakers will also include eminent experts in public health, mental health, neurosciences and behavioral sciences from India and abroad. The Conference will deliberate on mental health issues witnessed amongst members of the Central and State Police Organizations, CAPFs and the armed forces; early recognition of mental health problems; identification of common stressors and causative factors; formulation of preventive and promotive strategies to reduce occupational stress, action plans to address gaps in delivering mental health services where required, generating awareness on suicide prevention strategies, appropriate training interventions and preparation of a National Strategic Action Plan on Preventive Mental Health for personnel of the police, CAPFs and armed forces. BPR&D is separately writing to all State and Central Police Organizations to send in their nominations for the conference.

BPR&D is also planning to bring out a special edition of the Indian Police Journal on the occasion. Research papers and articles are invited for publication in the Journal. As articles have to go through a peer review process, it is requested that all papers and articles may be submitted to BPR&D well before the deadline of 20th July, 2019.

If you have questions, please contact the conference director Dr. Somen Saha, Email:  [email protected], M: +91 9687207549