Handling stress before stress handles you

One of my bookstore finds today is a stress prevention handbook for emergency responders by a psychotherapist who helped in the Oklahoma bombing and other mass disasters. She starts with describing the typical personality profile attracted to the profession (controlling, perfectionists, detailed oriented, needing constant stimulation, service-driven, hopefully she adds), but in terms of managiing stress, there is really only one of two personality types that one should be to function in any field, but particularly in a stressful, uncertainly-ridden work as this long term. She writes that one can either be dealing with stress capably (destressor) or aggravating it further (restressor). She points out that the restressor adds or prolongs to the stress by repeating the incident in his head or thinking stressful scenarios and berating thoughts. I admittedly is full-scale of the latter. I thought it was just part of who I am. I thought it was motivating and inspiring. This is of course the very opposite, for I crashed and burned and actually left a similar profession after three years of practice. And I didn't even know what hit me. Now I know--poor self- and stress- management.

In the Oklahoma scenario, eighty percent of the responders never returned to rescue work after helping in the event. They have been either traumatized by handling or seeing dead bodies, many of which they had no experience, or taken aback by the immensity of a disaster outside their control. The downside of this over time was not only attrition of the force (48%). Those who helped were affected by feelings of stress and burnout years after the event and resulted in their getting ill (91%) or divorced (28%). She quotes that the bombing was blamed by 50% for causing their situation. It is easier to blame an external event, she writes, than to improve on their lifestyle. But I do not blame these workers. Many of them came with good hearts, eager to help, but totally unprepared as they themselves admit to the reality that is ahead of them. As poor or inadequate training and inexperience makes the novice target for feelings of depression, frustration and burnout (think medical students, junior lawyers), if they (and health/ emergency personnel/social workers/caregivers in general) do not develop the tools to think and look past the great, seemingly insurmountable stressor, they will end up feeling chronically burdened and defeated and ultimately resentful and unproductive. Here are some of the tips that the doctor advises for resiliency.

Have self-care (ex. exercise) and positive distraction (ex. immersing in nature) "ten commandments". Have self-checks: ex. MEND worksheet for work satisfaction or a simple "Am I being effective the way I should?", "Am I able to relate to ones that I love or am I withdrawing or joyless?"

Have upbuilding by doing the following: recall the stressful moments in one's life and how and what you learned from them. Have a go-to phrase that would calm you down (my own should be "Thank you, Lord! for we who are believers must be joyful and thankful always, this is my most crucial discovery). Also to think of worst or the most uncertain and think that there is an advantage to it. She ends it by saying we have to accept death and suffering and we must know our beliefs, our "religious, spiritual and intellectual composites" oin this field.

Catholicism/ Christianity is aided by the sacraments and teaching that death is our window to eternal life, happiness with our Creator, if we chose to be obedient and trusting of Him. I have been reading on this because my boss has assigned me to play a critical part in disaster management. It was something that excited me many years back, then dreaded. Perhaps because I saw that the magnitude far outstrips what I can offer, but now I have God, and He is bigger than anything that I can encounter my way, so as a priest of the New Evangelization said, bring it on!