During the course of any job, a person may possibly encounter things that might shock them. Many men and women who choose the career of being a police officer may often receive Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the levels of violence they see throughout their daily lives. If a person has already suffered from traumatic experiences before in their lives, they can be at a greater risk of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Risk, 2010). Police officers who have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can also act differently towards citizens and in other aspects of their job. In lots of cities there can be a great number of police officers who will get PTSD from their careers in law enforcement. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder also effects the way a person lives, acts and how they will continue their lives after something disturbing has happened. There are various ways a person can develop this disorder and various ways to live with it. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was first founded in American soldiers who had been traumatized during wars since it can develop when someone has been in or has seen a traumatic event and has felt, according to Nancy Davis, “intense fear, helplessness, or horror”. Many officers can get PTSD from life threatening situations such as, shootings, fires and car accidents. These incidents can cause the development of a more severe PTSD which is more difficult to treat than less severe cases. Police officers have high stress levels during the course of their work day. This stress can affect their families and also their work ethic. High stress levels can be another factor for PTSD because when officers have seen disturbing events it can cause them to stress out because of that event. Many officers can suffer from diffe... ... middle of paper ... ...ay overwhelm them and can cause them to make a corrupt decision. Also seeing disturbing events can cause a person to take it upon themselves to become depressed and feel guilty about it, which can cause family and work relationships to be different because of the way the person is reacting. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can vary between gender and sometimes even ethnic backgrounds. After researching roles of gender and ethnicity in Post-Traumatic Stress in Police Officers, “we found that self-identified Hispanic American officers evidenced greater PTSD symptoms than both self-identified European American and self-identified African American officers” (Risk, 2010). It has been found that in Hispanic American officers, they have a greater wishful thinking and self-blame coping, lower social support and greater perceived racism were important variables (Risk, 2010).
Throughout the fire service, firefighters encounter a high level of different stresses that can cause post dramatic stress disorder. A plethora amount of people have not thought about how not only the military personnel, however a wide range of emergency calls or other factors come into play that results in fire personnel acquiring this disorder. This disorder has an enormous problem that will affect the management in the fire department.
Alegria et al. (2013) publicized the prevalence of PTSD, in terms of racial groups, is the lowest in Asians across the span of a lifetime (Alegria et al., 2013). One of the protective factors that delay the onset of PTSD is having a strong support group. This lower prevalence of PTSD could be attributed to the collectivistic culture dynamics that exist in Asian culture where you place others needs before your own. In the same study she found that African Americans are susceptible to the highest odds for developing PTSD. Residing in a culture that is primary individualist where you are your own support system can lead to a heightened risk for developing
...., Ompad, D. C., Menke, A., Tynes, L. L., & Muntner, P. (2007). Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in a New Orleans workforce following Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Urban Health, 84(2), 142-152.
The article under review is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the DSM-5: Controversy, Change, and Conceptual Considerations by Anushka Pai, Alina M. Suris, and Carol S. North in Behavioral Sciences. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault (U.S. Department VA, 2007). PTSD can happen to anyone and many factors can increase the possibility of developing PTSD that are not under the person’s own control. Symptoms of PTSD usually will start soon after the traumatic event but may not appear for months or years later. There are four types of symptoms of PTSD but may show in different
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) develops after a terrifying ordeal that involved physical harm or the threat of physical harm. The person who develops PTSD may have been the one who was harmed or the person may have witnessed a harmful event that happened to loved ones or strangers.
Police stress is viewed as a structural problem that is amongst the police culture (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). The argument made is that the working environment causes the stress. Even though a police officers job is not as dangerous officers still determine the danger as a source of stress. Police stress can be split up in to three sources: occupation, job-related and external stress (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Just the thought of the job gives officers stress. Job-related circumstances such as responding to calls can also create stress. Finally, external sources such as personal stress can all lead to an officer being highly
Some of the world’s most-loved and well-known superheroes include Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. However great these superheroes may appear, their fictional stories also include stressors that they face everyday, such as the villains that they encounter and the pressure of being a hero and an everyday citizen. In this way, stress often negatively impacts the lives of the ones who watch over every neighborhood, every street, and every house. Such is the job of a police officer. Because stress has become an important topic in the community of law enforcement, things that are commonly discussed are the causes of stress, the effects of stress, and the handling of stress in the lives of police officers.
Everyday law enforcement personal have the possibility to face dangerous events in their daily duties. In performing such duties a police officer could come by a seemingly ordinary task, and in a blink of an eye the event can turn threatening and possible deadly. When or if this happens to an officer they won’t have
PTSD is a debilitating mental illness that occurs when someone is exposed to a traumatic, dangerous, frightening, or a possibly life-threating occurrence. “It is an anxiety disorder that can interfere with your relationships, your work, and your social life.” (Muscari, pp. 3-7) Trauma affects everyone in different ways. Everyone feels wide ranges of emotions after going through or witnessing a traumatic event, fear, sadness and depression, it can cause changes in your everyday life as in your sleep and eating patterns. Some people experience reoccurring thoughts and nightmares about the event.
As to all other kinds of disorders, determining the risk factors is a major influential aspect of a person’s life in exposing herself to such diseases and illnesses. The factors that put people at risk for post-traumatic disorder are having a history of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. In addition to that, people who have been abused as children or who have had other previous traumatic experiences at a time in their lives are more highly to develop the disorder (Harvard Women’s Health Watch, 2005). Other risk factors that contribute to PTSD include motor vehicle crashes, disasters, torture, and comorbid substance abuse (Miller, 2000). The most common precipitating events for PTSD in women were rape and physical assault. For men, physical assault and other traumas were the most prevalent. However, both genders are at heightened risk for PTSD when it comes to motor vehicle accidents. These are the major risk factors people may face that predict the likelihood of post-traumatic stress disorder to occur. Furthermore, according to Harvard Women’s Health Watch 2005, people do not necessary have to encounter the traumatic events directly in order for PTSD to develop.
Corrections work is made for special people. “Corrections officers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder at more than double the rate of military veterans in the US” (Lisitsina, 2015). This is an astonishing thought knowing what war is like across the world and the impact it has on our soldiers. This knowledge makes it difficult on new corrections officers heading into their new positions in jails and prisons. PTSD is a major health problem that can lead to suicide. A study, “found that corrections officers have a suicide rate that is twice as high as the rate of police officers and the general population” (Pitarro, 2017). When officers are put in high stress positions they also become, “less effective at their jobs and they are more likely to display withdrawal symptoms of increased absenteeism, tardiness, and an anticipation of turnover” (Tewksbury and Higgins, 2006). Needless to say, the job can lead to a series of mental health issues and consequences for the officers, which puts them at
Tang, T., & Hammontree, M. L. (1992). The Effects Of Hardiness, Police Stress, And Life Stress On Police Officers' Illness And Life Stress on Police Officers’ Illness and Absenteeism. Public Personnel Management, 21(4), 493.
At least 50% of all adults and children are exposed to a psychologically traumatic event (such as a life-threatening assault or accident, humanmade or natural disaster, or war). As many as 67% of trauma survivors experience lasting psychosocial impairment, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); panic, phobic, or generalized anxiety disorders; depression; or substance abuse.(Van der Kolk, et al, 1994) Symptoms of PTSD include persistent involuntary re-experiencing of traumatic distress, emotional numbing and detachment from other people, and hyperarousal (irritability, insomnia, fearfulness, nervous agitation). PTSD is linked to structural neurochemical changes in the central nervous system which may have a direct biological effect on health, such as vulnerability to hypertension and atherosclerotic heart disease; abnormalities in thyroid and other hormone functions; increased susceptibility to infections and immunologic disorders; and problems with pain perception, pain tolerance, and chronic pain.(Fesler, 1991) PTSD is associated with significant behavioral health risks, including smoking, poor nutrition, conflict or violence in intimate relationships, and anger or hostility.
Nevertheless, CISD was used in post-debriefings for first responders involved in the Oklahoma City bombing, Waco Texas compound, and the World Trade Center Attacks. Agencies across the United States, including Federal, State and local jurisdictions participate in CISD as a part of a standard protocol. A number of authors have published papers advocating the support of peer programs after a posttraumatic event. They also suggest pre-event mental conditioning is the key to officer 's survival when an event occurs. Those conditioning techniques include training that will prepare the mind and body for big stresses. Basically, police officers that adequately train for violent encounters also, should also be adequately trained to encounter a critical incident. “An untrained officer’s response to a crisis will result in strong unrestrained emotions and fragile control techniques. The officer will be overwhelmed from the critical incident. Yet, if the officer has received, proper training to prepare him mentally and physically they will be better equipped to handle the stress”. Remsberg
Local police departments have long been accused of profiling Hispanic and other minorities in law enforcement activities, including random traffic stop and illegal searches. Critics fear that immigration enforcement by state and local authorities will lead to increase of racism. Many Americans have shown concerns with the implementation of racist discrimination of the U.S immigration laws by state police agencies and local authorities. One of the most critical issues for the police in the last three decades is the tension, and often hostile upright, between the police and ethnic minority group. In the past few decades, minority representation has increased significantly in the U.S police departments. However, Hispanic Americans, and other minorities are still seriously underrepresented in the law enforcement agencies.