Narcs need relief from stress, too

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has been holding regular stress debriefing seminars for its personnel to help them cope with the rigors of the job.

PDEA Director General Arturo Cacdac Jr. said that aside from carrying out its mandate to combat illegal drugs, the agency takes care of its personnel who have to bear the pressure of being lawmen.

Since 2013, he said, 330 PDEA personnel have undergone regular psychological interventions to address the unseen effects brought about by their work.

“Like any other law enforcer, PDEA personnel are vulnerable to all kinds of stress, pressure and situations where their intelligence, personality, attitude, temperament, training and other capabilities are immensely challenged,” Cacdac said.

The stress debriefing sessions are available to tactical officers, drug enforcement officers, agent trainees, preventive education and community involvement officers, information officers and prison guards. They are carried out by the PDEA Academy.

The seminars include: An annual neuropsychological evaluation to help the law enforcers become aware of the causes and degrees of stress in their lives; stress and anger management to manage negative emotions; pastoral, family and marriage counseling;

Wellness and recreational programs to promote physical and mental health; psychological therapy on how to react to tension in a smarter way; and critical incident stress debriefing, a psychological first aid against traumatic conditions following the loss of a loved one.

Cacdac said the stress debriefing seminars have been extended to PDEA Eastern Visayas regional personnel in the aftermath of Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” which killed thousands.

“This is part of our efforts to promote the physical and psychological wellbeing of our personnel while performing their sworn duty and fulfilling their personal, moral and social obligations,” he said.

In February, 70 PDEA Northern Mindanao regional personnel participated in a stress debriefing session in Cagayan de Oro City.–Julie M. Aurelio