Thanks to Desert Waters’ 24/7 hotline, the Corrections Ventline (phone 866-YOU-VENT and email youvent@desertwaters.com), we get priceless communications from the trenches, like the one shared below (reprinted with permission). Even if we do not agree with everything this CO has to say, it will challenge us to stop and think. What is it like to work the front lines year in and year out? How does it shape the worker? How can the corrections system invest in COs to keep them functioning professionally and to help them maintain healthy lives on the outside? May we always remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Here is my rant, my vent, my rambling, my words…
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ctudor Corrections Fatigue corrections officers, stress
Desert Waters Correctional Outreach exists because our experiences with corrections employees have led us to believe that, especially for staff with considerable offender contact, psycho-spiritual struggles are not a rarity.
Corrections staff operate in an environment of chronic stress, continual alertness, and the ever-present possibility of violence. Staff is exposed to violence in a multitude of ways, the impact of which adds up over time. They read about crimes in offender files, they view videos of assaults or riots for training purposes, they hear or read about assaults on the news, they witness such assaults firsthand, or they themselves become victims of violence. Gradually, this exposure, coupled with the high stress and need for continual watchfulness, breeds symptoms of psychological disturbance such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and secondary traumatic stress. As one of you said to me, “What I come across at work wounds my soul.” Read more…
ctudor Corrections Fatigue corrections officers, PTSD, stress
by Caterina Spinaris Tudor, Ph.D.
Imagine being ambushed by a mountain lion while hiking through the Colorado Rockies. As soon as the big cat knocks you to the ground, you automatically go into fighting mode. Your heart rate and blood pressure shoot up, sending extra blood to your limbs so you can have the strength to fight. Glycogen in your liver and muscles becomes converted to glucose to give you extra energy. Digestion stops. Cholesterol is released in your bloodstream to be an additional source of energy. Blood clotting factors kick into action, so you won’t bleed to death. Endorphins flood your brain to enable you to ignore the pain of bites and broken bones, so you can continue to fight. The adrenaline that floods your system increases your aggression, helping you maintain your fierce determination to survive. This simplified description of physiological changes that occur during a life-threatening attack constitutes “the stress response.”
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admin Smart Living corrections officers, self-care, stress
