The Police Officers and Stress Management Strategies
Unlike helpful coping strategies to manage stress, destructive techniques can only exacerbate the emotional condition of a law enforcement officer. So, the supportive strategies may include regular physical activities, active communication with other people, as well as avoidance of smoking and alcohol consumption (Stevens, 2008). Moreover, if the law enforcement officer is constantly facing with stressful situations, he/she must learn how to accept them, adapt to them and avoid (Stevens, 2008). Only in this case, the adverse consequences of stress will not affect the police officer’s brain. In addition, each officer needs to organize his/her time in order to be able to fully get enough sleep and eat (Stevens, 2008). These effective coping methods to manage stress are vital in the work of police officers, as they help to avoid tension and deal with stress.
In contrast to the helpful coping strategies, there are destructive methods of dealing with stress. It can be said that destructive methods are the antonyms of the helpful coping strategies to manage stress. So, very often, in order to reduce stress, law enforcement agencies are beginning to drink alcohol or to smoke a lot. They may tend to excessive eating or not eating at all, spend more time confined to a sitting or lying position, or ignore stressful situation at all (Greene, 2017). At first glance, the officer may see that such techniques will help in dealing with stress, but in contrast to the helpful coping methods, they cause harm to the body and, thus, activate even more stress (Greene, 2017). Therefore it is vital to distinguish between helpful and destructive methods of dealing with stress in order not to hurt the already suffering stressed body. Knowledge of the useful techniques to manage the stress can help law enforcement officials to prevent the influence of the adverse effects of tension on their mind and body.
References
Greene, L. (2017). Best and Worst Ways to Cope With Stress. Health.com. Retrieved from http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20765943,00.html
Stevens, D. (2008). Police officer stress (1st ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson …
