Stop The Threat - Stop The Stigma

01/03/2026

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Police officers may face hundreds of traumatic incidents over the course of their careers, but many still hesitate to seek mental health support when they need it.

01/01/2026

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Support first responders injured in the line of duty, new recruit education and the families of the fallen

01/01/2026

Men in Recovery - January 2026: Stop The Threat - Stop The Stigma Founder Captain Adam Meyers, CPS believes that mental health recovery as a police officer is possible, even after the most difficult and traumatic experiences the job can bring.

Policing exposes officers to repeated critical incidents, violence, loss of life, and human suffering, often without time or space to properly process it. Over time, those experiences can lead to anxiety, depression, PTSD, moral injury, substance misuse, and unhealthy coping strategies.

Many officers are taught to push through, stay silent, and “handle it,” believing that asking for help is a sign of weakness or a career-ending decision. It is not.

Recovery does not mean forgetting what happened or pretending the trauma never occurred. Recovery means learning how to live again, with purpose, stability, and healthier ways to cope, while carrying the memories in a way that no longer controls your life. It means regaining your sense of identity, not just as an officer, but as a human being.

For police officers, recovery often begins with the hardest step: acknowledging that something is wrong and accepting the need for the right kind of help. Trauma-informed therapy, peer support, culturally competent clinicians who understand law enforcement, and evidence-based treatments such as EMDR or cognitive processing therapy can be life-changing. These tools help officers process critical incidents rather than relive them endlessly.

Recovery also includes rebuilding daily habits: sleep, physical health, boundaries at work, and reconnecting with family and friends. It means replacing harmful coping strategies with ones that support long-term wellness.

Progress is not linear. There will be setbacks, difficult days, and moments of doubt. That does not mean failure. It means healing is happening.

Too often, police culture equates strength with silence. True strength is choosing to survive, choosing treatment, and choosing life.

Officers who commit to their mental health recovery often discover a deeper resilience, improved relationships, and a renewed sense of meaning, whether they remain in law enforcement or transition to a new chapter.

Mental health struggles do not erase years of honorable service. They do not define an officer’s character, competence, or worth. A police officer can be injured in the line of duty physically and mentally. Both injuries deserve care, compassion, and time to heal.

Mental health recovery as a police officer is possible. It is real. And no officer has to walk that path alone.

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01/01/2026

Stop The Threat - Stop The Stigma hopes that you and yours has a safe, healthy, and successful 2026.

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12/31/2025

Stop The Threat - Stop The Stigma Founder Captain Adam Meyers, CPS received this in an e-mail.

Thank you for your kind words and support.

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12/31/2025

Four years ago today (New Year’s Eve - 2021) shortly after 11:00 a.m., I made one of the hardest and most important decisions of my life: I chose to get the right kind of help for my mental health. At the time, I was a police detective working a patrol shift on New Year’s eve, and my mental health was deteriorating in ways I didn’t yet fully understand or want to admit.

Following an on-duty critical incident where I used deadly force on someone in 2016 (this person died), my mental health steadily declined. I carried the weight of that incident with me every day. Like many officers, I told myself to “deal with it,” to stay busy, to push forward. Instead of processing the trauma, I relied on poor coping strategies like emotionally shutting down, isolation, abusing alcohol, casual s*x, self-harm, using ma*****na, and suppressing everything I was feeling.

I thought avoiding the pain meant I was managing it. In reality, I was making it worse.

In law enforcement, we’re trained to be problem solvers, protectors, and responders, not patients. I convinced myself that struggling meant I was weak or broken, that asking for help would define me by my worst moment instead of my years of service. So I suffered in silence while the cumulative stress, guilt, hypervigilance, and unresolved trauma took a serious toll on my mental health.

Four years ago, something changed. I reached a point where continuing the way I was felt more dangerous than asking for help. Getting the right help meant finding professionals who understood trauma, critical incidents, and law enforcement culture.

It meant confronting the shooting, my reactions to it, and the unhealthy ways I had been coping. It meant learning that trauma doesn’t mean failure and that ignoring it doesn’t make it disappear.

Finally putting myself first wasn't easy. Healing is not linear. There were setbacks, painful realizations, and days where progress felt slow or nonexistent. But there was also growth. I learned healthier coping strategies, how to process trauma instead of burying it, and how to rebuild my life beyond the badge and the incident that once defined me.

In April 2022, I was terminated from my role as a Detective while I was in the process of getting help for my mental health. With the right treatment and support, I was able to heal, rebuild, and ultimately return to law enforcement as a police officer.

Today, I’m proud of that decision. Choosing my mental health quite literally saved my life. If sharing this helps another officer who’s struggling after a critical incident or anyone living with unresolved trauma know that they are not weak and they are not alone, then it’s worth saying out loud.

It's o.k. to talk about your mental health. You are not alone. Don't suffer in silence.

Photo of Stop The Threat - Stop The Stigma Founder Captain Adam Meyers, CPS in 2021 when he was a Wisconsin Police Detective
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12/30/2025

Stop The Threat - Stop The Stigma Founder Captain Adam Meyers, CPS speaking at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

"It's o k. to talk about your mental health. You are not alone. Please don't suffer in silence."

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12/30/2025

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An organization gets the behavior it rewards. Chase Sargent on how fire service leaders can consciously mold a fire department's culture.

12/29/2025

2026 New Year’s Resolutions for Police Officers, Supervisors, and Leaders
By Captain Adam Meyers, CPS
Founder, Stop The Threat - Stop The Stigma

As we enter 2026, I want to speak directly to police officers, supervisors, and leaders, not from a position of theory, but from lived experience.

Law enforcement is a profession built on service, sacrifice, and resilience, but for too long, we have ignored the toll this job takes on our mental and physical health. We’ve normalized exhaustion, emotional suppression, and suffering in silence. That mindset is costing careers, families, and lives.

At Stop The Threat – Stop The Stigma, our mission has always been clear: protect the people who protect others. As we start a new year, it’s time for honest resolutions and not ones that sound good on paper, but ones that actually keep officers alive and well.

My Message to Police Officers: You Are Not Weak for Needing Care

For years, we’ve been taught to push through everything - trauma, stress, grief, and fear. I’ve lived that reality. I know how easy it is to ignore warning signs and tell yourself you’ll deal with it later. In 2026, my challenge to officers is simple: stop waiting until later.

Make your mental health a priority, not an afterthought. That means checking in with yourself after critical incidents, talking to someone you trust, and using professional resources without shame. Mental health care is not a career ender, it is career preservation.

Physically, this job demands more from your body than most professions. Long hours, disrupted sleep, poor nutrition, and chronic stress wear you down over time. You don’t need extreme fitness goals, you need consistency. Move your body, improve your sleep when you can, fuel yourself better, and go to the doctor. A healthier body supports a clearer mind, better judgment, and safer outcomes on the street.

My Message to Supervisors: Your Leadership Can Save Lives

Supervisors are the front line of culture. You see officers daily. You notice changes in behavior, attitude, and performance long before administration does. In 2026, I am asking supervisors to stop leading with silence and start leading with support.

Normalize mental health conversations. Ask real questions and be prepared to listen. Don’t wait until an officer is failing, isolated, or in crisis before stepping in. Early intervention is leadership, not micromanagement.

Equally important: model what healthy leadership looks like. Take time off. Set boundaries. Seek help when you need it. When supervisors demonstrate that wellness matters, officers believe it’s safe to do the same. What you tolerate becomes culture, and what you ignore becomes policy without being written.

My Message to Police Leaders: Wellness Is Not Optional - It’s Operational

Leadership sets the direction of the profession. In 2026, police leaders must stop treating wellness as a buzzword and start treating it as operational readiness. Officers who are mentally and physically healthy make better decisions, use better judgment, and build stronger trust with the communities they serve.

One of the most damaging failures I’ve witnessed is how departments abandon officers when they struggle. Too often, mental health becomes a liability issue instead of a leadership responsibility. That must end. Leaders must commit to supporting recovery, offering meaningful accommodations, and standing by officers during their hardest moments, not distancing themselves when it becomes uncomfortable.

Policies don’t build trust. Actions do. Supporting officers when they are vulnerable is how leadership is measured.

My Resolution for 2026: Change the Culture - Save the Officer

My resolution as we enter 2026 is the same mission that founded Stop The Threat – Stop The Stigma: end the silence, end the stigma, and ensure no officer feels disposable.

Mental and physical health in policing is not an individual failure, it’s a shared responsibility. When officers are supported, supervisors are engaged, and leaders are accountable, we build a profession that can survive and evolve.

Let 2026 be the year we stop pretending toughness means suffering alone. Let it be the year we protect our own with the same urgency we protect the public.

Because when we take care of the officer, we strengthen the badge and we save lives.

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12/28/2025

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12/27/2025

The holiday season is often portrayed as a time of joy, connection, and celebration. For many police officers, however, the holidays can be one of the most emotionally challenging times of the year.

While others gather with loved ones, officers continue to work long hours, respond to crises, and carry the cumulative weight of stress, trauma, and responsibility, often in silence.

Understanding what officers experience during the holidays, and how families, friends, and communities can support them, is critical to protecting their mental health and overall well-being.

Police work does not pause for holidays. In fact, calls for service often increase due to heightened stress, alcohol use, domestic disputes, and mental health crises within the community.

Officers may face extended or unpredictable shifts, including nights, weekends, and holidays, missed family gatherings and traditions, leading to guilt or isolation. They may face Increased exposure to trauma, including suicides, overdoses, and family violence, cumulative stress and burnout, intensified by seasonal depression and fatigue.

For officers already struggling with anxiety, depression, PTSD, or unresolved critical incidents, the holidays can amplify emotional pain. The pressure to “hold it together” for family or coworkers often discourages them from speaking up.

Many officers compartmentalize their experiences, leaving work at the door in an effort to protect their families, but emotional stress does not simply disappear. Officers may become withdrawn, irritable, hypervigilant, or emotionally numb. Sleep disturbances, increased alcohol use, and physical exhaustion are also common.

The cultural expectation within law enforcement to remain strong and self-reliant can make it even harder for officers to ask for help, especially during a season that emphasizes happiness.

Family support is one of the strongest protective factors for officer mental health. Small, consistent actions can make a meaningful difference.

Listen without judgment or pressure. Officers may not want to share details, but knowing they are heard and supported matters.

Be patient with mood changes. Understand that irritability or withdrawal may be signs of stress, not a lack of care.

Maintain flexible traditions. Celebrate holidays when schedules allow, even if it means adjusting dates or routines.

Encourage rest and self-care. Sleep, healthy meals, and downtime are essential, not luxuries.

Normalize professional support. Therapy or peer support is a sign of strength, not weakness.

Friends often notice changes before others do. Simple gestures can have a powerful impact

Check in regularly, especially if an officer seems distant.

Invite them without pressure, understanding they may cancel at the last minute.

Avoid minimizing their experiences with phrases like “it could be worse”.

Be present, even if conversations stay light. Letting an officer know they are valued beyond the badge reinforces their identity as a person, not just a profession.

Community support plays a crucial role in officer wellness, particularly during the holidays.

Express appreciation respectfully. A genuine thank-you or note of support can go a long way.

Support officer wellness programs and nonprofits that focus on mental health resources.

Practice patience and empathy during interactions. Officers are human, too.

Reduce stigma around mental health, especially within public safety professions.

A community that supports its officers as people, not just responders, helps create a healthier and safer environment for everyone.

If you are an officer struggling during the holidays, know this, you are not alone, and you are not weak for feeling the weight you carry. Your mental health matters just as much as your service. Asking for help is not a failure, it is an act of courage and self-preservation.

The holidays can be difficult for police officers, but they do not have to be isolating. With understanding, compassion, and proactive support from families, friends, and communities, officers can feel seen, valued, and supported—on and off duty.

Taking care of those who protect us begins with recognizing their humanity and standing beside them, especially when the season feels heaviest.

Photo of Stop The Threat - Stop The Stigma Founder Captain Adam Meyers, CPS in December 2019 when he was a Police Detective in Wisconsin.
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12/27/2025

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As soon as the Thanksgiving holiday rolls around, it's go, go, go throughout the season and that can become overwhelming very quickly.