Stress in Policing: Reasons and Effects

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Defining stress
Causes of stress
Signs and symptoms of stress
Stress strain in the police force
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

The term “Stress” is not a new word to many people all over the world especially among adults and the young adults. It mostly a term familiar mostly with the working class in the society (Bano). Any working individual can attest to the fact that stress is, in one way or the other, a common ingredient in their working experiences on a daily basis.

So, just how does it get to have a grip on working individuals and how does this happen? To understand the occurrence of stress and come up with possible remedies to contain its effects, I will be looking at the condition in respect to the police force and its causes as well. In this research I will discuss the general effects of stress and probable ways of dealing with it with reference to the police.

Defining stress

Defining stress has not been an easy task considering it is a state of mind that has different occurrence structures. However, there are some conventional agreed standards set to give a guideline on how to detect whether or not an individual is suffering from stress. The definition of stress however in most cases is aligned to the notion that it is a form of a disorder (Vonk).

Mostly, stress is seen as a disease and many people handle it as such. There have been to these effect developments in the medical arena where biologists have come up with medications which are meant to treat this condition (Health management partners). Stress is brought about by many factors hence the difficulties in coming up with a single definition. In the midst of all the disparities in defining the term stress, Richard Lazarus’ definition is most accepted definition.

According to him, stress is experienced when an individual is overwhelmed by the demands of life and is unable to mobilize social and personal resources at his or her disposal to meet these demands (Levitt and Gutin). Other definitions cite stress as a physical and psychological response to changes in the normal way of life (Wang, Callahan and Goldfine). This is a daily routine and happens all the time in the office, while driving, while playing or working-out at the gym, basically stress is all around us. Biologically, stress is a hormone.

Causes of stress

Going by the definitions given above, the causes of stress can not be attached to one particular event of life. Stress as pointed above is a condition that occur everyday and is caused by different situations depending on the response of the body at that particular moment. The biological explanation of the occurrence of stress is the most clear and accurate explanation to this condition.

Biologists point out that in the event that the body senses danger, there is normally a release of a chemical alarm as they call it (Health management partners). This is releases in the nervous system and as a result, stress hormones such as adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol are freed into the body system (Jayson). This causes an increase in the heart rate and blood flow as well. This way, the blood vessels constrict and the results are that the blood sugar will go up to effect an emergency energy boost in the body.

This causes the normal body processes to halt. This is what in simple medical terms they refer to stress responses. Experts warn that continued stress response can lead to severe physical symptoms such as head aches, stomach conditions, high blood pressure, chest problems and sleeping difficulties (Health management partners).

Signs and symptoms of stress

There are many signs that can help determine whether or not an individual is suffering from stress. I would categories these signs and symptoms into cognitive, emotional, physical and behavioral symptoms (NYC Patrolmen’s Benevolent Assoc). The cognitive symptoms include inability to remember, inability to decide or make decision, having difficulties to concentrate, having pessimistic responses all the time, being anxious or unsure, too much worrying and fear (NYC Patrolmen’s Benevolent Assoc).

The emotional symptoms include withdrawn moods, being easily agitated, constant tension and fear, loneliness and isolating one’s self from the rest and constantly being unhappy. The physical symptoms as mentioned earlier include head and back aches, insomnia, dizziness muscle tension to mention but a few. Lastly, one’s behavior can tell whether one is experiencing physical or psychological responses due to certain events in life.

Doing things in the extreme is a clear way to determine ones status as far as stress is concerned. Eating too much or too little, sleeping too much or too little, being antisocial, continued procrastination of tasks, neglecting one’s responsibilities and hot temperedness speak a lot in confirmation of a stressed individual (NYC Patrolmen’s Benevolent Assoc).

Stress strain in the police force

From the above research, it is so clearly identified that stress mostly emanates from the anticipation of fear. Fear and anxiety are the most common and main causes of most stress related conditions. In the police force, the anxiety levels in the line of duty especially in areas of high criminal activities and high levels of insecurities are normally in an all time high. In the police force, proactive training should be administered to ward off stress considering the levels of risks they get exposed to in the line of duty.

Lack of reactive counseling in the forces can lead to ineffective performance. Police encounter with quite difficult situations as they carry out their very noble job to protect life and property. Dealing with such situations and making critical decisions is not easy and requires their sound mind to be effective. For example dealing with a rowdy crowd in a riot can be very challenging. Having people threatening your life and yet the law requires decent arrest and respect for human rights from the police is a paradox.

In their line of duty no one cares about the police’s human rights but being the custodians of the law, they are expected to follow the law to its perfection. This can be quite challenging and the difficulties abound are more to handle. In respect to this, I suggest that it is important to have police stress strain departments to assist in counseling the security personnel to help ward off stress.

Conclusion

Nonetheless, stress is an inevitable part of our lives. It is actually impossible to have a life deficient of stressful situations. The only way to live with this fact is to find ways and means to manage these situations. Counseling so far is doing a commendable job in trying to help people and more importantly the police to handle their stressful situation in a productive way (Sewell).

It is possible to handled stress in a productive approach in as much as it can also be disastrous if not handle with caution. Accepting the fact that stress is more of a human natural way of life is very helpful as it gives one a chance to try and find a solution for it after acknowledging it existence.

Works Cited

Bano, Bushara. “Job Stress among Police Personnel.” International Conference on Economics and Finance Research PEDR. 4. 11 (2011): 23-24. Print.

Health management partners. Understanding Stress: Signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Effects, cont. 2010. Web.

Jayson, David. Heart Rate Variability: An Indicator of Autonomic Function and Physiological Coherence. 2010. Web.

Levitt and Gutin “Multiple choice reaction time and movement time during physical Exertion.” Research Quarterly, 42. 2 (1971): 405-410. Print.

NYC Patrolmen’s Benevolent Assoc. Program for the Reduction of Stress for New York City Police Officers and their Families, Final Report. New York: NY, U.S. Department of Justice 2000. Print.

Sewell, James. “The Stress of Homicide Investigations.”Death Studies. 18.6 (1994): 565–582. Print.

Vonk, Kathleen. Police Performance under Stress, 2009. Web.

Wang, Jin, Douglas Callahan and Bernie Goldfine. “Choking Under Pressure in Competition and Psychological Intervention Approaches.” Strength & Conditioning Journal. 25. 5 (2003): 69-75. Print.

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