Do You Have To Pass An Assessment Mental Health To Be a Policeman?

Introduction

Many individuals today have decided to become police officers and departments will often receive hundreds of applicants when there is an opening for one of these positions. As the application process goes on applicants are required to pass a variety of tests including physical, written, lie detector, and a mental health assessment. This ensures that all candidates are able to safely perform the job functions of a police officer. Not all departments require a mental health assessment, but those that do want to make sure their officers are mentally capable of handling the stress of police work. Below are listed what to expect and how to prepare for a mental health assessment.

Self-Evaluation

One of the best ways to prepare for a mental health assessment with a police department is to examine yourself and make sure you are mentally fit to be a police officer. Millions of people today are affected by mental illness with some being small disorders and others much more complex and some possibly dangerous. If you have a history of a mental health disorder then examine if it is a serious condition, or a more benign one. The key is to make sure you are not a danger either to yourself or those around you. Being a police officer means you will have the trust and duty of protecting the citizens of you city or state. This is one of the reasons why testing for a police officer position takes so long. If you feel you are mentally fit to carry out all the duties that being a police officer entails then you should do fine on the mental health assessment.

Features

Many departments will set up the mental health assessment to be a few hundred questions that may either be multiple choice or true/false. One of the key things to notice is that you will often be asked the same questions only in a slightly different wording. This checks for consistency with your answers and makes sure you are not just answering what you think they want to hear. Most of these tests are very straightforward and are simply checking to make sure you do not have a mental disorder that will affect how you do your job as a police officer. It is best to not try and over analyze the questions because this may hinder you even more then answering what your first reaction is.

Take the time to evaluate each question and answer with the truth. The mental health assessment is part of the hiring process not because they want to see candidates fail, but because it is the duty of the department to ensure that they hire individuals who are truly ready for the stresses and work of being a police officer. If you try to beat the test then you are doing a disservice to both your community and yourself. If you happen to "beat" the test then you may still find you will have problems down the road if you truly do have a mental disorder. If you answer truthfully then you can avoid this altogether.

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