Health Matters

Visit here all year to learn more about the LAPD’s monthly Health Matters well-being campaigns.

2024

MAY

Stress & Mental Health

What You Can Do:

  • Avoid it...?! While avoidance may be “the worst coping strategy in general”, according to a recent article from the American Psychological Association, it can be an acceptable stress management strategy in SOME situations. Read the article to learn when and why to use this and other stress management tools.

  • Breathe. Stress can result in rapid, shallow breathing. By changing your breathing pattern back to slow, deep breaths, you can manage and reduce feelings of stress within minutes. Check out this video demonstration of one such technique, or use the Calm app breathing exercises (Try “Unwind” or “Relax” in the app).

  • Connect with others. Change how you think about stress.  In this TED Talk,  “How to Make Stress Your Friend”, health psychologist Dr Kelly McGonigal explains how stress can actually boost health.

Recommended Resources:

Drinking Habits April

What You Need to Know:

  • Studies find 20-30% of police officers abuse alcohol.

  • Alcohol abuse is a serious health and safety concern.

  • Irresponsible drinking can impact your health, family, career, and your reputation.

  • If you choose to drink, you need to know the LAPD Alcohol Safety Tactics.

Monthly Challenge & Activities:

Recommended Resources:

Diet & Supplements March

What You Need to Know:

Monthly Challenge & Activities

Recommended Resources:

Optimism February

What You Need to Know:

  • What’s OPTIMISM got to do with health?! Optimistic people take better care of themselves, sure, but there’s more to the story.

  • Let’s be real: Is it even possible to be optimistic as a law enforcement professional?! A bias toward negativity can be a “blessing and a curse for those in law enforcement”. Find ways to manage negativity in this article from Police1.com.

  • Thinking traps (cognitive distortions) can exaggerate negativity. See why we catastrophize as first responders and the toll it can take.

Monthly Challenge & Recommended Resources:

  • Glass half-full or half-empty? Assess your optimism with this quiz.

  • Did your quiz results show a need to boost optimism? How about taking a “negativity fast”, or…

  • Choose one or two of these 16 Ways to Boost Optimism to implement in your own life. Retake the quiz in a month, and see what works!

Fitness Goals January

What You Need to Know:

  • “Working out not only relieves stress, but also helps reduce chronic body pain and the possibility of being injured on duty”, according to headline article in Police1 magazine. Read full article to learn the BEST EXERCISES for police officers.

  • Mental and physical health are essential partners. Watch this brief video to find out How exercise helps your brain and mood.

Monthly Challenge & Recommended Resources:

2023 Archive

Healthy Holiday Habits December

What You Need to Know:

  • Thought: “it’s the holidays! Healthy eating and exercise can wait ‘til January.”

  • Fact: “The Holidays”, that 6-week or 40-day period between Thanksgiving and just after the New Year, is 10% of the year...too long of a time to completely discount healthy habits!

Your Monthly Challenge:

  • Quick read: how to find peace in your own life at holiday time.

  • Don’t overextend: it’s ok say “no” if you really don’t have time or energy to do something. Be realistic about what you can accomplish.

  • Find out stay on track even during the holidays in this brief interview with James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits”.  

  • Don’t wait: set physical activity goal NOW, something you want to achieve by mid-January, or that you plan to do from now until then. Examples: do 50 pushups and 50 sit-ups every day until January 1. Or register for a ride, a run, or other event in early January.  

Recommended Resources:

What You Need to Know:

  • A fork in the road: pre-diabetes is not a free pass; it’s a warning, a chance to PRE-vent type 2 diabetes by making lifestyle changes.

  • All in the family? Genes matter with diabetes, but for Type 2 diabetes, lifestyle choices are even more important, accounting for about 60% of the risk.

  • More than any other change, losing about 5-15% body weight can significantly improve Type 2 diabetes; in some cases, it can even lead to diabetes remission (ref)

  • Diabetes can affect the whole body, physically and mentally; in fact depression is 2-3 times higher in people with diabetes.

Your Monthly Challenge:

  • Low-carb, plant-based, Mediterranean diet? There’s isn’t ONE diet that fits everyone with diabetes. Find out how to eat for diabetes. 

  • Schedule regular medical checkups to manage and prevent diabetes complications; in diabetes care, the team approach is the best approach! 

Recommended Resources:

Diabetes Awareness November

What You Need to Know:

  • Cancer is largely preventable, and many of our daily lifestyle choices can affect cancer risk.

  • “...aside from not smoking, staying at a healthy weight throughout life is the single most important thing you can do to protect yourself from cancer.” -The American Institute for Cancer Research

  • Smokeless ≠ safe: smokeless tobacco  has been linked to multiple cancers, including mouth, tongue, esophagus, and the pancreas (ref)

  • It’s not just about the liver: Drinking ALCOHOL increases risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, breast, colon and rectum.

Your Monthly Challenge:

Recommended Resources:

Cancer Prevention October

Suicide Prevention September

What You Need to Know:

  • Multiple studies have proposed that more law enforcement officers die from suicide than by any other fatal incidents that occur in the line of duty.

  • The following risk factors may contribute to increased suicide rates in law enforcement:

    • Exposure to traumatic events (contributes to mental illness and substance abuse, and in turn, suicidal ideation)

    • Police department size (smaller ones have higher rates; possibly due to less training and support)

    • Demographics (still mostly comprised of working-age males; the highest risk group)

    • Exposure to firearms (the most accessible and lethal method)

    • Work stress (isolation, abnormal sleep, relationship impact, etc.)

Your Monthly Challenge:

Recommended Resources:

You Are What You Eat: August

What You Need to Know:

  • What we eat, or don’t eat, can affect our entire body and mind: our mood, our health, our ability to enjoy life.

  • Despite conflicting headlines, there’s more consensus than disagreement as to what makes a healthy diet:

    • Eat the right amount to maintain or reach healthy weight.

    • Eat a diet high in vegetables and fruits.

    • Limit or avoid highly processed foods.

      Or put simply by author Michael Pollan,
      ”Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

Your Monthly Challenge:

  • Got Your Six?! That is, six cups vegetables/fruits every day! Watch this video to learn how this one diet change can make a huge difference in health and well-being.

  • Then, take action and works towards getting your 6 every day. Download the “Got Your Six?”4-week plan to reach the goal.

  • Your brain on food: Read about the connection between diet and mental health.

Recommended Resources:

Financial Well-Being July

What You Need to Know:

  • Financial well-being is one of the critical elements in overall well-being.

  • Financial well-being is not dependent on how much money you make: “Instead, it pertains to how well one is able to manage his/her finances, create a stable income, and establish a degree of stability that leads to contentment with overall lifestyle.” IACP

    Your Monthly Challenge:

Recommended Resources:

Mental Health &

Traumatic Stress June

What You Need to Know:

  • Good mental and psychological health is just as essential as good physical health for law enforcement officers and professionals to be effective in keeping our country and our communities safe from crime and violence.

  • Police officers have higher rates of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

  • Too many law enforcement professionals suffer in silence for fear of seeming weak or not being in control.

  • There are many effective tools, resources, and treatments that can reduce unnecessary or prolonged suffering, including LAPD’s Behavioral Science Services (the first service of its kind in law enforcement, established in 1968).

    Your Monthly Challenge:

Recommended Resources:

Resilient Relationships May

What You Need to Know:

  • Healthy close relationships are critical to our physical and mental health.

  • Creating and maintaining long-lasting meaningful relationships takes effort and intention.

    Your Monthly Challenge:

Recommended Resources:

Alcohol Awareness April

What You Need to Know:

  • Approximately 20-25% of all police officers abuse alcohol.

  • Alcohol abuse is a serious health and safety concern.

  • Irresponsible drinking can impact your health, family, career, and your reputation. 

  • LAPD Alcohol Safety Tactics

Your Monthly Challenge:

Got Sleep? March

What You Need to Know:

  • More than half of all police officers don’t get enough sleep.

  • Chronic sleep deprivation is a serious health and safety concern.

  • You can improve quality and quantity of sleep with lifestyle changes.

Your Monthly Challenge:

Recommended Resources:

Healthy Heart February

You’ve walked the beat, now keep the beat!

What You Need to Know:

  • Heart disease is a Number One killer of people in the United States.

  • Heart disease strikes law enforcement officers more often and at an earlier age than the general population.

  • Everyday choices can affect your risk of heart disease: from the food you eat, the amount of alcohol you drink, to the physical activity you do, and more.

  • Preventive physical exams can help catch risk factors and warning signs early.

Your Monthly Challenge:

  • Take our Heart Health Awareness Quiz! Employees who take the quiz may be eligible to enter to a prize drawing!

  • Manage stress by getting out from under the “Shoulds”

  • Check your blood pressure this month, and do it right!

    • Find a blood pressure monitor. Even if you are not headed to a medical office this month, or don’t have a home testing monitor, you can check blood pressure at many pharmacies and drugstores, or at various LAPD locations, such as Mission, PHF gym, Hollenbeck, West Bureau/West Traffic, and possibly others.

    • Get an ACCURATE blood pressure reading. Here’s how

Recommended Resources:

Just Move January

Find ways to move more throughout the day

What You Need to Know:

  • If you’re someone who feels frustrated when you hear “get your daily exercise,” it’s time to understand it’s all about movement and there’s very little that needs to be involved!

  • That’s right. It’s time to stop thinking of daily exercise as a commitment with minimum requirements like running five miles or bench-pressing your weight. The demand can be far less taxing and should fit your fitness level.

  • From your brain to your joints, moving every day has the power to improve every part of your body. And it’s not just about high-impact, sweat-inducing exercise, either. It’s simple – whether you choose to implement small movements into your routine or try a new activity like cycling or yoga, increasing your daily mobility can help upgrade your overall health.

Your Monthly Challenge:

  • Start or join a Payday Wednesday Walk at your work location.

  • Host a movement activity: stair climb, hike, bike ride, yoga class, resistance training workout, etc.

  • Pair movement with your normal daily tasks, like standing on one leg while brushing your teeth, stretching while waiting for copy machine, a walk and talk meeting. More ideas here.

Recommended Resources:

  • Need help getting a movement/workout program started? LAPD has certified Lifetime Fitness instructors, and Peer Support Nutrition & Fitness Cadre, in addition to behavioral health/psychological services. Contact