How do police deal with stress on thier jobs ?

[tanker]

Being a law enforcement official is a very stressful job, you see people at their absolute worst. How do you manage to deal with stress ? Do you sometimes get a negative view of humamity ? How do you manage to leave your problems at work ?

Personally I would have a problem dealing with these things. I am just wondering how you all deal with it.

 

[primalclaws1974]

By beating up people like you and me, how else? Okay, that was a joke. I think some probably work out, others join their police buddies at cop bars. Still others go home and talk to their spouse about the bad things. Some probably just hold it in, which is never a good idea, but that's how some people are.

 

[LitoLawless]

I think that most law enforcement officers deal with their stress like anyone else would. I would hope that they don't take drugs, but you never know. I would assume that working out, spa days, and having a drink after work are high on the list.

 

[primalclaws1974]

I don't mean to sound cold-hearted, but why does everyone always assume that police have harder jobs than everyone else? I am not saying they have it easy, but is not like they don't know what to expect going in. For some, I think the appeal is that the training doesn't take very long. But then some people go into it, and realize it is physical and mentally exhausting. But so are a lot of other jobs. Maybe some are just looking for a job to fill-in until they decide what else to do. Again, I don't mean to belittle the police. They are a very necessary force in this world, and it comes at a cost.

 

[missbishi]

I don't think its that people think policing is a hard job, It's just some of the things you could encounter on duty could be quite disturbing. I imagine that it must be heartbreaking for cops to deal with cases where kids are being beaten or neglected and they must also see some real horrific injuries to people, as well as murdered bodies. I really hope that they do get some sort of help with dealing with these issues - problems can easily start when you just try and get on with things. I don't envy them at all.

 

[Gelsemium]

Police officers have to be prepared for stress, but I think that the best way to fight this is to know that there is a structure that works and that supports them and a population that needs to be protected.

 

[shilpa123]

I believe it is not really easy to handle the stress of the work. It can get quite worse at times and there would be nobody to help you. But it all depends on how strong the person is physically and mentally.

 

[Rainman]

The ones I know tend to favor the bottle. When they're off duty they drink. At home. Others who aren't guzzlers might have other ways to cope with stress. For example, those who don't drink deal with stress by overeating. This could explain why so many police officers are overweight.

 

[shilpa123]

I usually believe that police find it quite stressful too on with their life. A nice little recreational activities would definitely help them to get on their day to day living. It is quite sad if that does not happen.

 

[Kim1414]

Officers handle the stress just like everyone does. Some officers deal with it fine and have a good support system at home and or have a spouse who is also a COP. Some work out and go to the gym to get the stress out. Some let it build up over the years and then take it out on the spouse or the kids. Some officers go to therapy as a way of dealing with the stress. Law Enforcement officers are part of society as a whole and have all the same stress and issues as everyone else with a slightly more high profile job then other folks.

 

[shilpa123]

Most of the time I believe that they have tremendous stress in their life. It gets to the point that sometimes they are not able to bear it in a nice little manner. I believe that the best way to take care of it by doing some amount of exercise.

 

[ally79]

A lot of the law enforcement officers I know spend a lot of time in the gym and a lot of time trying to decompress with their families. I think it is very important for law enforcement personnel to learn healthy coping skills very early on.

 

[shilpa123]

I believe that the best way they deal with stress on their job is to get into some sort of recreational activities with their friends. This is the one and only way I believe. It cannot be very easy to live through the lives of a police when people are too serious about their life.

 

[stevesxs9]

There's not too many ways they can deal with stress besides from counseling. Any occupation that puts you in a life and death situation every single day, is equally draining both physically and mentally.

 

[Profit5500]

Being a law enforcement official is a very stressful job, you see people at their absolute worst. How do you manage to deal with stress ? Do you sometimes get a negative view of humamity ? How do you manage to leave your problems at work ?

Personally I would have a problem dealing with these things. I am just wondering how you all deal with it.

I think all that yelling from the academy and military training if the officer were to have served in the military helps. You have to keep your composure while on the job. If you lose your cool then your not fit for the job.

 

[shilpa123]

The best way to deal is to make sure that you do not end up with lot of problems and have lots of friends. Friends always know how to cheer you and make a person really happy.

 

[RingoBerry]

My girlfriend's grandfather, they would hold mini bowling tournaments specially when officers are starting to get cranky from stress. He's also a jolly old guy who makes sure he gives everyone credit for their hard work.

 

[Rosyrain]

Communication is very important if you are a police officer. You have to be able to go home, or go to a friend or trusted person's house, and really talk about the stress you are feeling. Police work is not something that someone would want to bottle up in their mind and not talk openly about. Police officers see things that many of us will never see and they need to get it out of their minds and talk openly about it. Working out, talking, and doing activities are some of the ways that officers can and do get the stress out of their systems. The neat thing about police stations is that most of them have full gyms for the officers to go and work out at.

 

[dyanmarie25]

We all get stressed out at work, I think that police officers have them much worse. So maybe, most of the things they do to relieve stress are just do other fun activities like playing sports or drinking with friends, or just simply bonding with their family.

 

[JoanMcWench]

Pretty sure police & people deal with stress in quite similar ways. The only real difference that changes things are the levels of stress. I know a few police officers who go to the range to shoot off steam. Pun intended!