Policiais que choram em silêncio: sofrimento psíquico, trabalho policial e políticas de cuidado na Polícia Civil em Belém do Pará e Região Metropolitana

Abstract

Police work is characterized by continuous exposure to violence, institutional pressure, and intense operational demands, creating conditions conducive to psychological distress. Within the Civil Police in Belém (PA), Brazil, these conditions are shaped by organizational and cultural dynamics that tend to normalize suffering and hinder its expression. In this context, psychological distress is understood as a socially produced phenomenon, embedded in work organization and institutional mechanisms that regulate professional experience.This study analyzes the psychosocial care policy of the Civil Police of Pará, focusing on the Directorate of Civil Servant Assistance (DAS/PCPA), examining its scope, limitations, and effects on workers’ mental health. A mixed-methods approach is adopted, combining document analysis, a survey of 234 police officers, and in-depth interviews with 13 participants undergoing psychological distress. Data analysis is based on methodological triangulation, integrating descriptive statistics and content analysis.The findings indicate that intensified work demands, extended shifts, individualized legal accountability, and an organizational culture grounded in the valorization of invulnerability produce structural conditions of distress. It is observed that fear of stigmatization, and particularly the risk of losing firearm authorization—an element central to professional identity—acts as a barrier to accessing mental health services. The possibility of “surrendering the weapon” emerges as a symbolic threat to institutional belonging, contributing to delayed help-seeking.Mental health-related leave is recurrent, although marked by weaknesses in monitoring and reintegration mechanisms. The DAS/PCPA is recognized as relevant but limited by geographical centralization and weak institutional coordination.The study concludes that psychological distress in police work is institutionally produced and culturally silenced. It contributes to the fields of Sociology of Work and Health by demonstrating that managing the police workforce also entails managing vulnerability, highlighting the need for public policies that address stigma and recognize mental health as a strategic dimension of public security.