Module 2 – General Subject

STRESS MANAGEMENT IN
LAW ENFORCEMENT

Public Safety Basic Recruit Course

 Module 2 – General Subject (Stress Management in Law Enforcement)

NATURE OF STRESS

Stress - plays a part in the lives of everyone.

Some stress is not only inevitable, it can be good. For
example, the physical stress of “working out” improves
your cardiovascular system, and feeling pressure that
causes you to study harder for an exam can improve
your score. Police stress, however, refers to the
negative pressures related to police work. Police
officers are not super humans.

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Police work is highly stressful. It is one of

the few occupations in which, employees
continually face physical dangers and be asked to
put their lives on the line at anytime. The police
officer is exposed to violence, cruelty, and
aggression and must often make critical decision in
high- pressure situations

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Stress is part of living. All living

organisms are subjected to stress. Since
we cannot separate stress from us, the best
thing that we can do as police officers is to
manage it properly by learning SMILE.

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Definition of Key Concepts

Stress – the non-specific response of the body to any

demand placed upon it
- the wear and fear on the body caused by living

Distress – negative stress

Eustress – positive stress

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Stressor – any environmental event that causes an

automatic nervous system response.

Police Stress – refers to negative stress that is related to

an individual’s job as a police officer.

Job Stress - the condition in which some factor or

combination of factors that intersects with the worker to
disrupt his psychological and physiological equilibrium.

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Defense mechanisms – protective mechanisms

whenever the integrity of the self or ego is threatened.

Burn-out – a state of total mental, emotional and

physical exhaustion, characterized by changed attitudes
towards work colleagues and crisis victims.

Flame-out – a preventable and treatable conditions

which occurs when the need for periodic rest, food,
exercise and relaxation is overlook or ignored.

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 Module 2 – General Subject (Stress Management in Law Enforcement)

STAGES OF A STRESSFUL SITUATION

Stress can unfold itself in a series of stages. The

first is the "fight of flight" stage in which the body prepares
itself to take action, alerting all body systems. In the second
stage, a rush of adrenaline courses through the blood
stream enabling the body to quickly respond to the situation
at hand. During the third stage, the body attempts to break
down or metabolize stress hormones. In the fourth stage,
body systems slowly return to normal and a calming down
effect is experienced.
.

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GENERAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME

Dr Hans Selye - in his book, The Stress of Life,

proposed a “general adaptation syndrome” to describe
the incapacitating effects of negative stress. The
syndrome involves three distinct stages in individuals
who are exposed to a wide variety of environmental
threats or “stressors”.
.

Public Safety Basic Recruit Course

 Module 2 – General Subject (Stress Management in Law Enforcement)

General Adaptation Syndrome

(GAS)

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

Public Safety Basic Recruit Course

 Module 2 – General Subject (Stress Management in Law Enforcement)

Stage 1 Alarm Reaction characterized by less than normal

resistance to the stressors and a more abundant secretion of
stress hormones.

Stage 2 Resistance during which the level of resistance to the

stressors increases and body defense mechanisms are activated;
and

Stage 3 Exhaustion, when bodily resources are depleted and the

person cannot maintain an adequate defense against the
stressor.
.

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STRESSORS IN POLICE WORK

General classification

1. External stressors stemming from the criminal

justice system and society at large.

• frustration with the Philippine judicial system

• lack of consideration by courts in scheduling
officers court appearance
• lack of public support
• negative or distorted media coverage
• officers’ dislike of administrative decisions
.

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2. Internal stressors stemming from the policies and

practices of the police organization.

• policies and procedures that are offensive

• poor or inadequate training and inadequate career
development opportunities
• lack of identity and recognition
• poor economic benefits and working conditions
• excessive paperwork
• inconsistent discipline
• perceived favouritism
.

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3. Stressors inherent in police work.

• rigors of shift work

• role conflict
• frequent exposure to life’s miseries
• Boredom
• Fear
• responsibility for protecting other
people
• fragmented nature of the job
• work overload
.

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4. Stressors confronting individual officers

• fears regarding job competence

• necessity to conform
• necessity to take a second job
• altered social status in the community
.

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EFFECTS OF STRESS
Personal

Alcohol abuse Anxiety

Drug abuse Psychosomatic disease
Emotional instability Eating disorder
Fatigue Boredom
Marital Problems Mental Illness
Depression Suicide
Insomnia Health breakdown
Insecurity Irresponsibility

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Organizational

Reduced productivity Lack of creativity

Increased errors Increase sick leave
High turnover Premature Retirement
Absenteeism Job Dissatisfaction
Damage and waste Poor decision
Antagonistic group action

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STAGES OF STRESS RESPONSE

Stage 1: Alarm Reaction. Any physical, emotional, or

mental upset will cause an instantaneous reaction by the body to
combat the stressor. This physical response is well known as the
"fight-or-flight" reaction. The “fight or flight” reaction sends a
tremendous burst of adrenaline to all parts of the body—the blood
vessels, heart, stomach, kidneys, lungs, eyes, muscles, and more. If
the stress is short-term (acute) or not severe (in biological terms, a
short time would be a few hours, perhaps even a couple of days), we
quickly recover without any detrimental effect to the body. If the stress
is chronic or long-term, the body's resistance is affected, making us
more susceptible to illness or disease.

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Stage 2: Resistance. At the resistance stage, the

body tries to become balanced (a process called
homeostasis). You may think you can handle anything
because the stress symptoms noticed in the alarm stage
have now calmed down—until you become completely
exhausted. As the stress continues, you may suffer with
fatigue, sleep problems, and an overall malaise. If you get
poor sleep, you may become quite irritable and have
difficulty concentrating or being productive at home or work.
This creates even more stress and a vicious cycle has
started.

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 Module 2 – General Subject (Stress Management in Law Enforcement)

Stage 3: Exhaustion. After combating stress for

days to weeks, the body shuts down completely.
Sometimes after days of unending stress, the body
succumbs to illness—either a viral or bacterial infection.
If you look back over a period of several years, you may
find that the times you developed a cold or flu were
immediately after a stressful event in your life. .

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It is during this exhaustion stage that you may

pay the price of abuse with premature skin aging. Chronic
or long-term stress depletes the epidermis of water,
oxygen, and vitamin C, as well as increases hormone
levels, histamines, and sebum production. While
completely unaware of the internal damage from chronic
stress, you will notice how it manifests in skin symptoms
such as bumps, excess oil, breakouts, acne, rosacea,
pimples, and a host of other unsightly conditions.

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Stress and the Police Family

• changing work schedule – not much time is spent

with children; weekends and holiday with the family
are missed.
• emotional exhaustion – the various negative
situations with which the officers constantly comes in
contact lead to frustration and psychological
exhaustion.
• negative image – perceived public animosity and
disrespect impose the negative label of “cop” on the
officer

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• overprotecting the spouse and family – wanting to

know where his wife and children are what they are
doing and who they are with all times can impose
irksome restrictions on the family.
• hardening of emotions – to function adequate on the
job law enforcement officers often find it necessary to
suppress their feelings.
• sexual problems – sexual problems between the
officer and his spouse may be either a symptom or a
cause of emotional conflict and estrangement – and
often are both.
.

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• identity problems – traditional roles of men and

women in marriage have undergone rapid changes
in the past several years.
• problems with the children – children of police
officers may encounter negative reactions and
rejections from both peers and schoolteachers
because of their father’s occupation.
.

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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a psychological

condition that is caused by one’s inability to successfully
manage an emotional response triggered by severe trauma
(Paradise, 1991).
The symptoms of PTSD generally include (Philip and
Schwartz, 1992).
• When exposed to places and situations resembling
the initial traumatic event, the officer re-experiences
the traumatic event. The officer can have nightmares,
flashbacks or hallucinations.
• Continual avoidance of any thought about the
traumatic event.

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• A sense of detachment from others, including family

members.
• Insomnia
• Spontaneous outbursts of anger.
• Preoccupation with thoughts of death or dying.
• Inability to concentrate.

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Stress Management Techniques to be Used

Techniques that you select depend on the cause of
the stress and the situation in which the stress occurs. In
choosing methods to combat stress, it is worth asking
yourself where the stress comes from. If outside factors
such as important events or relationship difficulties are
causing stress, then a positive thinking or imagery based
technique may be effective. Where stress and fatigue are
long term, then lifestyle and organizational changes may
be appropriate. If the feelings of stress come from
adrenaline in your body, then it may be effective to relax
the body and slow the flow of adrenaline.

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Stress management techniques from a number of different

perspectives:

• Firstly we look at a method of analysing the stresses

you are under so that you can choose the
appropriate control technique. This is explained in
The Stress Diary.
• Next we look at a number if different mental
approaches to controlling short term stress.

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• We then look at physical techniques for reducing

stress, relaxing muscles and controlling adrenaline in
your body.
• After this we switch focus to long term stress, and look
at ways of controlling stress that you may be creating
for yourself.
• Finally we look at ways of reducing stress caused by
your environment.

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Counter Stress Programs

Philippine National Police

• Physical Wellness Program

• Emotional Wellness Program
• Mental Wellness Program
• Spiritual Wellness Program

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Department of Health Sandosenang “S” Iwas Stress

- scheduling - speak to me
- siesta - self-awareness
- sports - stress debriefing
- Spirituality - stress reduction relaxation exercises
- sounds, songs - Social
- sensation techniques -smile

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Eleven Pointers to Live By In Managing Stress

1. Stress in daily life is natural, pervasive, unavoidable thus
to be expected.
2. Police officer means and success in coping with stressful
incidents vary.
3. Stress has a significant relationship to job performance.
4. The best defense against stress is understanding it, its
symptoms and causes.
5. It is not the components of your job that create stress-it is
how you perceive life.
6. You cannot control what happens in the environment but
you are responsible for your reactions to it.

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7. There are two tragedies in life. One is getting what one

wants and the other is not getting it.
8. Men’s natures are alike. It is their habits that carry them
apart.
9. We are all tea bags. We don’t know how strong we are until
we are put into hot water.
10. The key to winning is attitude. Attitude is your altitude.
11. The most difficult in life is choice.

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Principles of Stress Management

It seems like everywhere we turn now we hear about

how bad stress can be for our lives and our health. Just
because we understand how important stress management is
in our lives, that doesn't really mean we understand how to
make stress management a part of our lives. That is where the
principles of stress management come into play. By
understanding and implementing these four simple principles
you will be able to reduce the stress in your life and therefore
be able to have a more organized life all around.

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• Try to prioritize. The very first principle in stress

management is trying to prioritize the things in your life. Take
time each day to think about what you need to accomplish
and what should be done first. By taking the time early in the
day to do this, you can get rid of the big items that will take
up most of your time and plan the smaller items around
them. By writing down this priority or "to-do" list, you will be
able to better plan out your day, and see exactly how much
time you have to do things. Do this not only for each day, but
also each week, month, and year if at all possible.

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• Take time for yourself. One of the major causes of stress in

our lives is to not take enough time for ourselves. Everyone
needs a little time to "recharge" their batteries and to clear
their head. If you don't do this periodically, if only for five or ten
minutes each day, you will find yourself emotionally and
physically drained and unable to go on.
• Recognize when you need help. No matter how much we
may not like to admit it, everyone needs help. What makes
this so difficult is that we, as a society, have a hard time
learning to recognize when we need help. If you find yourself
becoming stressed, take a little time to take stock of the
situation. Think about what led up to the situation that you are
in, and remember that for the future. When you find yourself in
those or similar situations where you may find yourself having
difficulties, seek the help of another.

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• Learn to let go. Perhaps the single most difficult principle of

stress management to learn, is learning to let go. There are
times when you simply need to take a break. Where it will do
no good whatsoever to continue on with the stressful
situation, so it is best to leave. Take a five or ten minute
break to get your bearings. Afterwards, come back with a
clear head. You will be amazed at how much difference this
can make.

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PRAYER

Lord slow me down

Ease the pounding of my heart by quieting my mind.
Steady my hurried pace.
Give me in the confusion of my day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tension on my nerves and muscles
Help me to know the magical restoring power of sleep.
Teach me to take minute vacation by slowing down to look at a flower, a cloud, to
chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a few lines from a good book.
Remind me that the race is not always to the swift, that there is more to life than
increasing its speed.
Let me look upward into the branches of the towering oak and know that it grew
great and strong because it grew slowly and well.
Lord, slow me down. Inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life’s
enduring values that I may grow toward the stars of my great destiny

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END of Presentation

Public Safety Basic Recruit Course