Stress And Ficer 's Workplace Performance Essay

759 Words Nov 2nd, 2015 4 Pages
Stress can affect the officer’s workplace performance as well as their personal life. Stress that has an affect on an officer’s workplace performance can lead to bigger problems. If an officer is not performing well it can lead to the officer making a mistake while on the job. This can lead to lawsuits against that officer, and the department (Kurtz, 2012). Officer stress can sometimes turn into posttraumatic stress disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder is brought on after someone has exposure to a traumatic event. Officers often come into contact with many different things on a daily basis that can produce posttraumatic stress disorder (Violanti, Slaven & Charles, 2011). Some examples of these events include calls dealing with homicide, fatal car accidents, rape, and child abuse. Officers sometimes deal with a case that is disturbing to them or may hit close to home. This can lead to flashbacks once they encounter a similar event. Each officer reacts to situations differently but posttraumatic stress disorder can happen to any officer (Violanti, et al., 2011). Untreated stress can lead to a number of problems for police officers. Some officers turn to alcohol or drugs, and sometimes abuse it. According to Violanti (2011) a study revealed that 8.3% of people who work as protective service agents reported to drinking heavy alcohol within the month the study was done (Violanti, et al., 2011). This study linked officers drinking together as one of the problems. Officers…

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