The impact of traumatic events
As traumatic events such as threats, assaults, and accidents, are
becoming more common in the workplace, employees are requiring more
support to overcome the acute stress reactions they may experience
on top of the everyday stresses. There is a growing recognition that
organisations not only need to attend to the legal, medical and safety
needs of employees following a traumatic event, but also the psychological
impact of trauma.
It is imperative that in this age of workplace violence and disasters
that a simple uncomplicated workplace trauma response plan be implemented.
This includes identifying risks, policy and program development,
training, peer support, debriefing, follow-up and evaluation.
ACCESS-OCAR Trauma Management provides comprehensive services including
24-hour / 7 day access to a debriefing for critical incidents. The
service is designed to be immediate and minimise the impact of critical
incidents on staff.
People who have experienced trauma may become concerned about changes
in their feelings or behaviours. Such reactions are perfectly normal
and do not mean they are weak or unstable.
Coping strategies
- Talk to colleagues, friends and family about the event and your feelings.
- Allow yourself time to rest and wind down.
- Return to your normal activities, even if at first you are not motivated.
- Exercise to help your system return to normal.
- Do whatever helps you to feel that you are back in control of your life. Even making small decisions or following a normal routine will help.
- Seek counselling if you are at all concerned about your reactions. It often helps to talk to someone who is outside the situation.
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Things to avoid
- Refusing help from people around you. You may need additional support at this time.
- Getting frustrated with yourself or having unrealistic expectations about how long it will take to feel normal again.
- Making big decisions until you have had time to regain your perspective.
- Drinking alcohol to excess or taking drugs to help you cope with your symptoms. This can create more problems.
For family and friends
- Listen carefully when the person wants to talk (they may need to talk about it a number of times to help them come to terms with the event).
- Reassure them that they are safe.
- Be patient over the next few weeks. If the person is acting
differently, try not to take this personally - it may be a symptom
of the trauma.
- Take care of yourself. Sometimes even hearing about traumatic events can cause concern or strong reactions.
- Let them know that you are sorry the incident happened and you want to understand and support them.
- Give practical help as well - with household jobs, child-minding,
transport, etc.
- Don't push the person to talk - sometimes just spending time
with them is enough.
- Don't say "You're lucky, it could have been worse".
This rarely consoles traumatised people.
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