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Identifying traumatic reactions in the workplace |
People experiencing work-related trauma have reported the following reactions:
Changes in physical and cognitive functioning |
- Continuing to experience somatic symptoms without there being a medical explanation for their persistence.
- Having original symptoms which get worse or generalize to other situations.
- Feeling out-of-control of their bodies: unexpected episodes of tearfulness, disrupted sleep patterns, appetite disturbances, panic attacks.
- Having difficulty concentrating.
- Experiencing memory loss or impairment.
- Being hypervigilant: very tense and easily startled.
- Having gastrointestinal disturbances separate from any injuries related to the trauma.
- Increasing consumption of alcohol or drugs.
Changes in relationship to the work environment |
- Being afraid of returning to the workplace.
- Becoming concerned and anxious about the safety of the physical work environment.
- Changing regular work routines to avoid physical reminders of the traumatic event, e.g., avoiding performing job activities related to the traumatic event or refusing to use equipment or follow policies or procedures associated with the trauma.
- Experiencing flashbacks of trauma which are triggered by auditory, visual, and olfactory cues in the environment.
- Decreasing time spent at work (sick leave, vacation, unexplained absences).
- Questioning whether or not to remain working at "this" job or in "this" profession.
- Feeling foggy and numb.
- Being inattentive to the task at hand which leads to increased accidents and errors.
- Deteriorating performance/customer relations.
- Wondering whether they are competent to perform the job.
Changes in relationship to co-workers |
- Feeling isolated: "everyone else continues as though nothing has happened."
- Fearing blame for the occurrence of the event.
- Feeling angry about actions (or inactions) of co-workers.
- Losing sense of personal and professional self-esteem around colleagues.
- Feeling marked or exposed: "different".
- Losing sense of humor.
- Withdrawing from usual kinds of peer interactions.
Changes in relationship to management |
- Increasing conflicts with authority figures.
- Feeling betrayed and abandoned.
- Withdrawing into a position of helplessness when they used to be active problem-solvers.
- Becoming 'militant' about policy and procedural deficiencies.
- Seeking some evidence of 'justice' in management response to incident.
- Turning to legal action if their distress is not recognized and dealt with.
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