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New PSG series:
Trauma and Police Work
Police work frequently encounters different segments of life, one happening quickly after another. Whether the life stage is showing moments of joy or episodes of disaster, police officers normally have little choice but to Ôswallow' each of these moments.
Officers are no different to any other mortals. They may have received the best of professional training and gone through the most varied range of experiences. But when traumatic events happen, be they difficult rescues, life and death scenes, near-miss situations or dangerous encounters, the normally well-controlled and experienced officer will still be susceptible to unpleasant feelings of fear, helplessness and horror.
It's beyond whether you have the stomach to see blood or handle a decomposed corpse. Unpleasant and sometimes unshakable images can last for years. Working moods can be badly affected, and there can be lasting effects on the officer's temperament and personal lifestyle.
Psychologists view trauma as those abnormal situations caused from natural disasters (e.g. floods, earthquakes) and man-made ones (e.g. personal assault, torture, or war), which involve or threaten death or serious injury, or which directly threaten the integrity of people.
In the case of police officers, the hard fact is these traumatic events can occur one after another in their daily work, sometimes without any warning or adequate psychological anticipation.
Some officers seek Psychological Services Group advice because of adjustment issues after various forms of trauma, be they related to police operations such as shooting incidents, or disasters, a colleague's misfortune, or even their own traumatic experiences from childhood.
Without adequate understanding of these post-traumatic reactions, one can easily be led astray by these frustrating and agonising signs that may seem to last forever.
With this new series "Trauma and Police Work", we hope to discuss in detail some of the common traumatic events encountered in police work, some common signs and behavioral symptoms and effective ways of coping. We welcome requests for psychological services for officers suffering from various kinds of trauma and other psychological problems.
Seek help with courage: PHQ, Hong Kong Island and Marine: 2866-6206 (5/F, 111 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay); Kowloon and the New Territories: 2735-3739 (22/F, Ocean Building, 80 Shanghai Street, Kowloon).