Do police officers drink more than the general population? How does racial discrimination affect mental health? And what can large-scale data tell us about health inequalities?

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Patsy Irizar from Liverpool John Moores University to explore two seemingly different but deeply connected areas of research: alcohol use and mental health in the police and military, and the impact of racial discrimination on psychological wellbeing.

Dr. Irizar shares her journey, discussing her groundbreaking PhD work examining alcohol use among UK police officers and the culture surrounding drinking in policing. We unpack findings from a dataset of 40,000 officers, challenge stereotypes about the “hard-drinking cop,” and explore the complex relationship between alcohol and mental health.

The conversation then turns to health inequalities, where Patsy explains how the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted long-standing racial disparities in health outcomes. We discuss how discrimination can become biologically and psychologically embedded, why social determinants matter, and what researchers are learning from the largest survey of minoritized ethnic groups conducted in the UK.

Along the way, we talk about:

•  Why people use alcohol to cope with mental health difficulties 
•  The changing drinking culture within UK policing 
•  The “sick quitter” hypothesis 
•  Trauma, occupational stress, and mental health 
•  COVID-19 and ethnic health inequalities 
•  Structural and institutional racism 
•  How discrimination affects mental health over time 
•  Improving mental health services and treatment pathways 
•  The role of research in creating meaningful social change 

Whether you're interested in psychology, public health, policing, addiction research, or social inequality, this episode offers a fascinating look at how our environments shape mental health.

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