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Introduction Stress affects everyone, yet few people understand what causes it, how it develops, how it affects their bodies, and how they can be more effective in managing their stress. Basically, stress is the body's way of coping with emotional and physical change and a very necessary part of our modern-day survival response. Numerous stress-related illnesses and diseases, as well as personal behaviors (e.g., the frequent use of tranquilizing drugs like Valium), underscore the need for the seminar. While many people know of stress, few fully understand its nature. As a positive force, stress gives us the push we need to achieve our most coveted goals. However, when stress is unrelenting and out of control, it is a villain that causes unhappiness, sickness, and even death. Nowhere is stress the greatest than in law enforcement. In fact, some have referred to law enforcement as possibly one of the most stressful of all occupations. Nowhere is stress the greatest than in l There are several reasons why law enforcement seems more stressful today than it has ever been. These reasons undoubtedly include (a) perceived increases in negative publicity associated with police departments in recent years because of a rash of negative incidents (e.g., beatings, riots, profiling, etc.); (2) rise in violent crime; (3) lawsuits; the transition from reactive policing to problem-solving and community policing; increased public scrutiny and call for accountability; and the fear of blood borne (e.g., HIV/AIDS, hepatitis) and airborne (e.g., germ warfare) contaminants and diseases. The Problem and Some Trends While great progress has been made over the years in the study and treatment of law enforcement stress, this progress has been running equally strong with increased pressures placed on police officers. For example, today's police officer is expected to perform at an even higher level of expertise in an ever-changing complex public awareness that, at times, seems less tolerant of any of the most frequently mentioned excesses (e.g., undue force, profiling, etc.) exhibited by the police in carrying out their daily duties. Recent research on police stress has focused on essentially four approaches: 1) Identifying particular stressors and their frequency of occurrence, 2) Document the evidence, i.e., the incidence and prevalence of stress-related disorders or outcomes among law enforcement officers (e.g., psychological, physiological, personal and impaired work performance), 3) Relating stress and emotional problems that law enforcement officers experience and relate them to health outcomes, for example suicide, alcoholism, and 4) The impact of post-traumatic stress (e.g., shootings) and related disorders and how best to develop appropriate strategies. Categorizing Stressors in Police Work Although there are many ways to categorize the potential stressors police face, three categories are increasingly being used that captures a variety of factors and conditions that are potentially stressful for police officers. 1) Extraorganizational Sources: The conditions relate to on-going activities that are external to the police department. The two most commonly identified sources include (a) The Criminal Justice System and (b) Community Relationships. In the case of the criminal justice system, examples include problems in scheduling appearances in court; the leniency of the courts toward the criminals; lack of consideration shown to police officers by the courts; and police officers being cross-examined. In the case of community relationships, this includes the less-than friendly relationship that exist between the community that police officers serve. This less-than desirable relationship stems from various factors, including the perception that the police is always never there when they are wanted, and that they are more interested in service-orientation versus the more needed, i.e., serving as a deterrence for crime. 2) Intraorganizational Sources: These conditions relate to on-going activities that are going on within the police department. Usually four factors fall under this category: (a) Physical Danger of Shift Work (e.g., working rotating shifts, especially those that are after midnight, wrecks havoc on the officer as well on his/her family; (c) Work Overload and Work Underload, with overload dominating in the case of the police; and Organization Structure, i.e., the rigid ways in which most police departments are run. 3) Individual Characteristics: Although most research do not find a unique personality trait among police officers, some evidence suggests that because of the demands of the job, some police officers may have a "working" personality of being overly suspicious, rigid, cynical and authoritarian. Click here to See The Basics of Stress for more examples of stress-related outcomes. Stress-Related Reactions and Outcomes While many outcomes are manifested by the police when they are experiencing stress, the following four conditions seem to disproportionately affect them as a group. (a) marital problems; (b) suicide; (c) alcoholism; (d) physical symptoms, such as poor appetite, insomnia, nightmares, headaches, and feeling tense and anxious. Click here to See The Basics of Stress for more examples of stress-related outcomes. Critical Incident Stress Reactions While police officers will experience various kinds of stress, alike other workers, such as fire fighters, nurses, etc., they are likely to experience a different type of stress called critical incident stress or CIS. Essentially, CIS relates to a dramatic event or events in the life of an officer that results in a number of debilitating symptoms or outcomes. Dr. Jeff Mitchell, who is a leading authority on CIS, defined it as "A life experience or a series of experiences that so seriously upsets the balance of the individual that it creates changes in the person's emotional, cognitive or behavioral functioning." Some have simply defined CIS as "A normal reaction to an abnormal event." Examples of general critical incidents include: Sudden and unexpected occurrences; events that disrupt our sense of control; events that disrupt our belief, values, and basic assumptions about the world; experience of a life-damaging threat or event; and experience of physical and/or emotional loss. Examples of typical critical incidents for police officers include: Suicide of a co-worker; line of duty death/injury/shooting; death of a child; mass casualty incidents; victim is known to the responding police officer who arrives on the crime scene; safety of the officer is unusually jeopardized; and prolonged failed rescue attempt. Stress Management Strategies Any serious attempt to reduce or control the stress of police officers will have to take into consideration both the organizational and individual factors, both of which are inextricably linked to each other. In the case of organizational factors, which are usually the most difficult to address, it requires serious effort on the administrators and other high ranking officials to make the workplace more conducive for police officers to work. In short, both the structure and the functioning of the work and work-related environments will have to be changed and/or modified in ways that will reduce the stress police officers currently experience. Some examples of organizational changes include: Enhancing the department's image; Better allocation of financial and other resources A written plan for administrators to identify and reduce organizational stress Instituting or upgrading Field Training Officers' (or FTO) Programs Upgrading the facilities and resources of police training academies with modern tools Providing Critical Incident Counseling, both in the field and in the department Commanding important follow-up and sustained support after critical incidents Matching officers' capabilities with the needs of their jobs by conducting "person-job-fit-analyses" Promoting the fraternal and social orders of police officers Some examples of individual changes include: In the case of individual factors, which in some respects are more easily changed and/or modifiable, police officers will have to be educated about stress, what to expect, what to do when they are experiencing stress and their resources (e.g., Employment Assistance Programs or EAP, counseling office, etc.) provided by the police administration. It is very important that these "resources" be both sensitive to the needs of the affected police officers and, at the same time, all contacts must be held confidentially. From an individual's perspective it has been said that stress-related problems can be prevented in basically two ways: a) by eliminating the source(s) of the stress and (2) by learning how to deal with stressful conditions before they lead to problems (e.g., depression, anger, marital problems, suicide, etc.). The most fundamental component of any stress management training, whether it be directed by EAP or any other legitimate source, is the general awareness officers have about stress. This is in keeping with Dr. Livingston's basic I.R.M. Approach to Stress Management. Simply put, I refers to identifying the sources of stress or stressors; R refers to recognizing when you are experiencing stress (i.e., its signals); and M refers to managing stress using selected strategies. According to law enforcement experts Drs. Joseph Hurrell and William H. Kroes, "When individuals are unaware of the nature of threats to their well-being, they are less able to escape, avoid, or directly confront them. Thus, in order to successfully cope with stress on an individual or organizational level, officers need to be made aware of the nature of job stress and its consequences." Some Selected Stress Management Strategies to Practice Try to achieve good personal physical health Try to achieve good personal mental health Become aware of the stress myths you are following Try communicating any pain and/or emotional suffering to a "supportive" other Become aware of what are your stressors Become aware of how you are reacting to stress Try monitoring yourself as to how you are reacting to stressors and stress Adjust your expectancies to yourself and to others so that they are practical and real Try to objectively evaluate your attitudes Seek professional help when needed Seek temporary or permanent changes of shift or assignment Use your time off wisely Make time to laugh and have some fun with those you like Dream when you can Try visualizing places that are relaxing for you Try being cooperative versus confrontive Try increasing your physical activity Make a list and prioritize items on the list Say "NO" to extra demands placed on you Learn to control your anger Learn to relax Get organized Talk rationally to yourself Try to have a social life where your are stimulated by interacting with friends Manage your time effectively and efficiently Reduce the time urgency associated with things as bets as you can Watch and reduce your destructive habits (e.g., poor eating, exercising, sleeping, etc.) Try finding quite each day so that you can reflect and relax Try to achieve good personal physical health Try to achieve good personal mental health Become aware of the stress myths you are following Try communicating any pain and/or emotional suffering to a "supportive" other Become aware of what are your stressors Become aware of how you are reacting to stress Try monitoring yourself as to how you are reacting to stressors and stress Adjust your expectancies to yourself and to others so that they are practical and real Try to objectively evaluate your attitudes Seek professional help when needed Click here to See The Basics of Stress for more examples of stress management strategies.
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