Law enforcement professionals who openly seek help for anxiety, depression, emotional disorders, or post-traumatic stress disorder often face personal or professional criticism and discrimination. Sometimes, in seeking help, their careers suffer considerable harm. Police officers can be considered “unfit for duty” if their mental health records are revealed, potentially resulting in them losing their employment. Therefore, many law enforcement professionals opt “to suffer in silence to everyone’s detriment, including their own.”

My poor coping strategies put my relationships, my job, and my health at risk, but I did not care. I wanted to escape from what I was feeling. I wanted to numb my emotions, my thoughts, my body, and any memory of taking someone’s life. I wanted to feel better even if only momentarily. I was selfish, reckless, and I did not care how my self-destructive and dangerous behavior affected my family, friends, fellow officers, or the public.

The experience plagued Meyers, a 20-year veteran officer, with feelings of guilt and trauma, inspiring him to found Stop the Threat — Stop the Stigma in 2020, an organization devoted to eliminating the stigma around speaking about mental health in a profession often linked to facing your fears daily and carrying on.

STOP THE STIGMA. Longtime law enforcement professional Adam Meyers was traumatized by his experience using deadly force against a civilian in 2016 in self-defense. Now, he helps others struggling with mental illness cope with traumatic circumstances – or any type of mental illness – in an effort to speak up and advocate for more conversations about mental health.

For over two decades, Adam served as a law enforcement officer in Wisconsin, facing the unimaginable challenges that come with the job. But one fateful day, he was involved in an officer-involved shooting. Although cleared of any wrongdoing, Adam’s life took a harrowing turn.

While all police officers pull their weapons during their careers only a very small percentage actually end up firing them in a deadly force confrontation. On April 8, 2016, Detective Adam Meyers became one of those officers after he was involved in a fatal officer-involved shooting that changed his life forever. In this episode, host Jim Dudley chats with Adam about the events of that day and the immediate aftermath, as well as the ongoing stress he experienced as a result of the incident.

Hosts and PTSI Resilience Trainers John Salerno and Samantha Horwitz talk with Adam Meyers from Stop the Threat Stop the Stigma on @A Badge of Honor Podcast.

A Badge of Honor offers workshops to first responders across the nation, working with mental health liasons and critical incident management teams for Post Traumatic Stress Injury Recovery, wellness and resilience. A Badge of Honor says, “We Hear You,” and wants you to know you are not alone.

While all police officers pull their weapons during their careers only a very small percentage actually end up firing them in a deadly force confrontation. On April 8, 2016, Detective Adam Meyers became one of those officers after he was involved in a fatal officer-involved shooting that changed his life forever. In this episode, host Jim Dudley chats with Adam about the events of that day and the immediate aftermath, as well as the ongoing stress he experienced as a result of the incident.

“I worked very hard to get in the law enforcement profession,” he said. “I worked very hard to try to be a positive role model to my daughters and I knew that my life would continue to suffer if I would continue down the path that I was on.”