First Responders and Trauma

First Responders and Trauma

As those of you who have been following my blog know, I have a passion for working with first responders and their spouses.  Today, I would like to focus on trauma-which is a part of daily life for those in the line of work. 

Defining a traumatic event

Trauma occurs when we experience a threat to our physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual well-being—whether that threat is actual or perceived.  In such situations, our reaction can be as extreme as intense fear, helplessness, or horror.  A noteworthy fact is that our emotional experience during the event is what determines whether or not the event is traumatic, not the event on its own.  In other words, the meaning that we attach to the event in relation to ourselves is what determines whether or not the event will have a traumatic impact on us. 

After the experience

After experiencing a traumatic event, it is perfectly normal for us to experience a range of emotions and reactions such as hyper-arousal, anxiety, fatigue, irritability or impatience, hyper-vigilance, changes in appetite, social withdrawal, difficulty sleeping, and more.  When these symptoms become prolonged or exaggerated, there is a chance that you could be experiencing a stress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder. 

If an individual has a history of trauma, he or she is more likely to be more vulnerable to PTSD as compared to those individuals who do not have a history of trauma.  The first-responder line of work exposes individuals and their families to high levels of stressful and traumatic situations.  First responders themselves are exposed to such situations in their day-to-day work.  Not having control over the volume of calls and having to continue responding to calls even after an especially stressful or traumatic one, remaining in the line of work for a long time, and not having any control over the volume of calls you must respond to when you are having an especially traumatic work day are just a few examples of the stresses one can be exposed to. 

Seeking Help

With the right support system, recovery from trauma is very possible.  If you feel you would benefit from the support offered in counseling and the opportunity to process the realities and stresses of the job, as well as the effects such stresses have on the family unit and parenting roles, please contact me to set up an appointment or with any questions you may have about the counseling process or experience.