The stress of police work leads to higher rates of depression, anger and burnout

Because police face many stressors and often have to make split-second decisions, mental (and ultimately physical) fatigue is routine. Thus, paying attention to their mental well-being is important.

Fortunately, there are promising efforts on this front. My UT-Dallas colleagues at the Center for Brain Health and the Brain Performance Institute have been working with the Dallas Police Department on a mindfulness program for policing known as Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training, or SMART.

As a more general-prevention style program, the goal is to help officers manage the stress they experience by down-regulating their emotional response to stress.

Click here to the full article by Alex Piquero, Stephen Bishopp, and Nicole Leeper Piquero for the Dallas Morning News.