Why we do what we do

Paramedics in crisis

​Paramedics are regularly exposed to more trauma than the average person in Canada in a study conducted this year found that 20% of paramedics or more in Canada suffer from some sort of mental health disorder such as Depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Harenburg et al. 2025).  In one study, it was found that 49.1% of paramilitary in Canada, paramedics being screened were found to have symptoms of mental illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder, a multitude of anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, and alcohol abuse. 

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Does this sound like you?

- Feeling sad or feeling like you can't get out of bed in the morning

- Feeling like nothing matters and you don't care

- Tiredness or low energy like you won't even try to do something because you are too "exhausted"

- Feeling upset at everyone 

- Yelling or being aggressive to loved ones

-Changes in eating or diet because you feel it's easier 

- Starting to drink more than usual and always saying you can stop at any time

- Thinking about or planning suicide 

- Extreme highs and lows

- Inability to cope with stress 

- Trouble completing daily tasks 

This is included to make you think not to scare you. Now I want you as the reader, the paramedic, to imagine a very large backpack on your back, and you can't take it off. Imagine every call you go to place a rock there it doesn't matter if it is a large rock or a small rock eventually you can't support the weight anymore. The bag is your mental health. The rocks are everything from working conditions to traumatic calls. If you do not get help you will crumple underneath them. Would it not be better and more self-sufficient to share the weight with someone? So if this sounds like you, please continue reading.

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Paramedics are in a crisis and what treatment options do paramedics have available to them? 

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"The peer support team,", which is a fantastic resource for being able to speak to another paramedic and who may be able to better understand what a paramedic is going through, although there can be some drawbacks, such as less anonymity, feeling stigmatized for seeking help and often the team members are not trained psychologists (Willing, 2024).

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Outside therapy which is a great option and there are many pros, like speaking to a licensed and experienced mental health professional, being able to seek medications for issues that may be plaguing them, such as sleep, depression, anxiety and many more. There are also cons such as that person may not being able to fully understand what a paramedic may be going through, the price is different with each mental health professional and many paramedics feel as though therapy should be paid for by the service in which they work, and is it ethical to be speaking to and outside source when discussing a patients' history?

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Self-help plans are a way to allow for self-care and provide a way for paramedics to have complete control over their own care. Self-help plans usually consist of a daily routine with time slots for things like work or meal times and also have things like medications charts and times for self administration, diet and exercise charts, and a slot for sleeping. This is a very beneficial plan, but there can be drawbacks such as not consulting a mental health professional or forgetting/procrastinating.

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