We have looked in the last few issues at how traumatic experiences arise from a critical incident (e.g. shooting incident, death of a colleague, etc.). This time we'll discuss traumatic stress as a result of chronic distress in police work.

Part of the police job exposes officers to repeated fear, anger and dismay. Instances include prolonged undercover operations, daily investigations of child abuse and regular handling of victims of horrendous crimes.

Neglect or mismanagement of the above stressors may result in what Williams (1993) calls "stair-stepping effects" - if the previous distress/traumas have not been resolved properly, individuals tend to "stair-step" to more pathological reactions when a new distressing event occurs.

Other research shows that mere experience is not sufficient for the coping of chronic distress, contrary to some officers' claims that "you get used to the distress" (Moran and Britton, 1994).

It was found that the greater number of incidents attended and the more years of service were predictive of the duration and the severity of the stress reaction.

Chronic work distress, if not handled properly, can be manifested in symptoms of sleep disturbance, recurrent nightmares, anxiety, avoiding work, irritability, repeated mental images of stress-related terror, and loss of faith in one's own self and others.

To reduce the distress, officers concerned need to (1) understand the sources of the distress (e.g. fear of one's safety, the horror of death scenes, etc.); (2) talk to supportive people when feeling disturbed (do not let the distress stay unheeded); (3) objectively analyse strategies in coping with the source of the distress (avoid emotions triggered by irrational judgment); and (4) continuously monitor one's symptoms and adopt an active attitude to finding a solution and seeking help when the symptoms intensify or get out of control.

Police work is very stressful and can easily amount to chronic work distress (and a whole range of psychological problems as a result).

If the distress can be dealt with actively and effectively by officers, there is a greater chance of them enjoying the challenge and satisfaction of police work.

Seek advice and help from the Psychological Services Group: 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).





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