The other day Angela wrote me to ask about some of the issues that contractors are having to deal with in the war and at home. Stuff that get’s us into trouble on the job or with our personal lives. It’s a good list, and a good start. I am sure there are other issues we could talk about and hopefully this will get the mental juices flowing out there. A big thanks to Angela for putting this together.
I also forgot to give her one more area that really messes with guys, and that is the money issue. Sometimes people get into contracting against their wishes, all because they are desperate. You have scenarios where guys are extremely burned out on anything to do with the war or the military, but they have a family they need to feed and jobs are scarce at home. So they begrudgingly get into contracting, and introduce this bitterness to the work place. They might not have any respect at all for contracting and the very basic guard duty jobs they are doing, and this attitude gets them in trouble with their co-workers and management.
The other reason why I like posting this stuff is that this gives those out there that are suffering, more tools and ideas on how to cope. Angela is the only one out there that has reached out to this community with a helping hand, and I think she is an awesome person for doing so. As a result, I send folks her way all the time.
I also get the hard emails now and then, and all I can do is listen and try to channel them to persons and places that can help. I definitely do not want to see another Danny Fitzsimons scenario where a contractor is suffering and yet they keep going after jobs to stay employed. But these are the guys that are walking time bombs in the contractor workplace. We need to find these contractors and help them before they hurt themselves or others.
Which by the way, and I mentioned this to Angela, I do not know what the suicide statistics are for contractors. I imagine there have been quite a few suicides, just because many contractors already come from a past filled with trauma–either as a cop or veteran of a war. But there are no studies at all about this area of contracting. If I were to speculate, the rates of suicide would be similar to that of the military or police. But this is just speculation….
I am also interested in all and anything that will help to create mental resiliency for war zone work. Because we all deal with some kind of personal demon or issue which can have an impact on our work, health, or relationships, and it is important to create a personal battle plan on how to work through those issues. You need to be constantly learning about yourself and continuously improving upon what makes you strong and resilient mentally. The pay off is the ability to work in this industry for the long term and still maintain a life at home. The other pay off is that your mental state will not interfere with your job, and your decision making process will be enhanced and focused on winning the fight. –Matt
Security Issues – A Top Five.
By Angela Benedict
August 30, 2011
Five of the most debilitating issues in security disciplines are; addictions, relationships, PTSD, physical pain and suicide. Addictions are tied to relationship problems. Alcohol and women get many personnel into serious, life-altering trouble. Alcohol is especially problematic as it has such an engrained historical place and therefore acceptance within military settings. It is a cultural norm. The devastating effects of its status are seen as unfortunate, but not serious enough to curtail the place it holds in the culture. If this happened, the positive ripple effect would be immense.
Addictions within military culture are varied and include drug abuse including steroid use and pain killers. Pain killers are connected to the fourth most pressing issue that of physical pain, especially back pain. Steroid use is tied to increased rage and emotional roller coasters as it is hormone–based. Add this to the epidemic state of adrenal exhaustion amongst military/paramilitary personnel and this is a troubling combination.
Many pursue a career in security to maintain steady doses of adrenaline or the adrenaline/endorphin cocktail. There are few better highs than this. Added to exhausted adrenals this ride continually shocks already depleted systems.
Adrenal exhaustion is not to be taken lightly. Symptoms can include emotional and psychological signs of distress including depression, apathy, even suicide. Mood swings, anxiety, lack of faith in the world and a hopeless attitude are also typical. As are compulsive behaviours including excessive exercise, sex, loud music and other stimulation. Anger, resentment, relationships problems, work performance issues, joint pain, allergies, low blood pressure, toxicity…as you can see the parallels to other combat related stereotypical illness makes adrenal exhaustion the probable systemic issue for many personnel but has a huge likelihood of being misdiagnosed.
Sex as an addiction is very prevalent as depleted systems need to be fed. The more depleted the more feeding is required. Often men in security disciplines have voiced that although their sexual experiences are varied and regular the effects are disappointing and depleting leaving them feeling unsatisfied and constantly looking for another kind of fix. All addictions are escapism and self medicating behaviours to keep other issues at bay, suppressed and ignored. This emotional-based suppression leads to chronic
self sabotage. Sex addiction especially is an accurate sign of depletion. In looking for the high needed, even more extreme sexual acts may be investigated including bdsm activities and unsafe sex and may put multiple persons at risk. Honest, guided experimentation of bdsm activities can actually be beneficial when paired with investigation of the suppressed emotional factors that are causing the suppression in the first place. Some addictions are also self medication for sleep disorders ie: drinking to unconsciousness. Insomnia or flashbacks are often self-treated as are anxiety instead of finding out the underlying surrender/safety issues.
Relationship issues are not specific to military/security careers. The expectations placed on the relationship have to be in sync with the realities that come with job. These include not only distance, but transitioning issues between home and work. Unfortunately, many people who travel have the attitude that they are no longer restrained by convention or institution and are beyond rules. This leads to encounters that can end otherwise stable and loving relationships. Unclear, unvoiced, unrealistic expectations lead to disaster that creates more emotional unrest that can become more suppressed emotion that leads to illness, poor judgment and even death. The first ranked issue in police suicides is divorce. Emotional trauma from relationships may end up feeling like rage, grief, shame, shock, loss. The clear and honest expression of these may be deemed inappropriate, illegitimate and therefore becomes buried and held as emotional pain. This holding of pain can lead to both mental and physical illness.
PTSD is a profound byproduct of the trauma experienced in combat areas and other security related scenarios such as crashes and disasters. This can also be the result of rape and other physical brutalization.
Currently there is attention being paid to full blown PTSD diagnoses without further attention being paid to all those across security disciplines who do not warrant a full diagnosis but are struggling to some extent due to their experiences. Rarely do they receive the additional support they need to cope with doing their specialized jobs. The other end of the spectrum is traumatic growth which if misinterpreted can end up feeling and looking like PTSD. Traumatic growth symptoms include severe headaches and body pain, depression, amplified moods and mood swings, and unique experiences such as raised precognition levels, vastly improved night vision, auditory ability etc. PTSD is often the result of an overwhelmed system that has already been depleted. It is no wonder why it takes long term rebuilding to regain wellness levels.
Back pain is a major issue within security professions due to the weight of equipment and static body positioning especially in vehicles for long periods of time. Running with excessive weight jars ankles, knees, hips and the spine resulting in nervous system interference, structural misalignment and inflammation. Physical pain is also a sign of held emotional pain. Just as muscle memory is an important part of training, the understanding of muscle memory in the process of healing is also needed. Many trauma survivors cite back pain as a major obstacle in their recovery. To overcome this pain, self medication is applied often leading to further serious personal and professional difficulties.
At the core of each of these five is intense emotional crisis. And on some level contractors and other security professionals know this. They know when their body is telling them to stop. They know when they are self-medicating. What is needed isn’t more discussion of what the problem is, only more solutions.
Suicide is the ultimate step after intense loneliness, and defeat. There is no pending future. There is no sense of support. Community and service; making a positive contribution, surrounding yourself with positive influences are the typical suggestions; finding a reason to keep living. At the heart of suicide is loss of love.
Physical pain especially in a warrior is manifested mental, emotional, spiritual and social pain as well as physical wear and tear. To be a warrior is to stand apart and often alone. At the heart of pain is a loss of love.
PTSD is an overwhelming shock to our SELF that results in physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social consequences. It is whole person shock. It is caused by accidental or intentional exposure to what humanity is capable of doing to humanity in the worst sense. At the heart of PTSD is a sudden and shocking loss of trust and love. During the Civil War, PTSD was called Soldier’s Heart.
Relationships are centered around being loved, or not. We build them, crave them, neglect them, create new ones, are disappointed, exuberant, uplifted or dismissed within the same relationships as they are constantly evolving and morphing. Ending any relationship or experiencing significant change in it can be intensely felt. At the heart of relationships is love. Sometimes it is the loss of love.
Addictions are escape and self medication to numb and distort. It is denial and disconnect. It is the most obvious often hurtful and even fatal example of loss of love.
The loss of love that I mean here is often not a lack from outside sources but from within the warrior. Self preservation is not the same as self love. Undoubtedly the remedy for the issues that plague warriors is not chemical or external but internal and is a powerful creative piece that manifests repeated painful experiences that would not happen, wouldn’t be permitted to happen, if the warrior loved himself completely without judgments, unconditionally. This is training that most do not receive. And so the issues that could be removed from their paths stay; primarily depletion, depression, suppression, silencing, denial and death.
How can we change a culture of self-medication to a culture of self care? Teaching and training. We need new programming.
1. Self development exercises
2. Pain and release
3. Inventory of choices
4. Biology of belief
5. Self regulated programming
6. Warriorship revisited
Self development is an organized framework of reflection usually done through specific task-driven activities. There are several good resource books available although I do promote mine as one of the most easy-to-use and effective one that I’ve seen so far. Being Brave, a No-Fluff Approach to Self Development for Men is available through MHC, the Military Healing Center. This can be purchased with the MBV Stress Reduction and Recovery audio program.
Pain release can be done in a variety of ways including physical stimulation such as deep tissue massage, acupuncture and chiropractic. Also visualization is key in the regeneration of the body’s systems. Meditation Breathing Techniques and Visualization make up the acronym of the MBV Program. Also knowing where key pressure points in your body are to self regulate is helpful. Have you noticed how anxious people often wring their hands? This is actually a very beneficial exercise. The entire body system
is mapped out on our hands and feet, even our ears. From a reflexology perspective, rubbing our hands, feet and ears stimulates and activates every system within our body. Gentle massage with some lotion or warm oil, soaking tired feet and then applying cream and working the muscles in every area of the foot and ankle and even taking a couple of minutes to really rub and massage the ear as well as behind and under in the cords of the neck is very beneficial. So far, all of these important self care techniques have
been free or cost very little money. Let’s keep going.
Having a variety of choice in your wellness regime is important. From the Police Stress Study I conducted (2011) a wide range of activities was provided to gauge what people are doing to stay health and level. One of the most telling comments from the study was how many people didn’t realize that they had so many choices. Reiki, reflexology, watertherapy, music therapy, art therapy, homeopathic remedies such as Rescue Remedy, acting, gardening, mechanical projects, running, martial arts (combat and healing),
visiting with friends, sex, watching familiar movies, etc.
Biology of Believe is a term coined by cell biologist Bruce Lipton who found in his studies that our perceptions of situations are enough to make us ill or healthy. That we only had to believe that there was a stressor causing us harm in order for our bodies to react accordingly. Luckily the reverse is also true. Our beliefs can also make us incredibly healthy based on what we perceive to be around us and within us. This is where affirmation, visualization, mantras, journaling and other constructive reprogramming formats are very helpful.
Self-regulated programming is individually determined and led actions and thoughts that are geared to rebuild or reprogram specific dysfunctions that individual has. For example, someone who has a hypervigilance dysfunction due to childhood horror may rehearse getaway plans in their head when they enter any building or room. They are always aware of where the exits are, how they will disarm or harm an attacker and how they will flee. This rehearsal of their exit plan becomes part of their processing and internal programming. In order to help them develop inner peace, and a feeling of security a change in their planning needs to happen to accommodate for new understandings of why they feel under attack, how realistic that reaction is now, signs to watch for as differentiation, a safety plan rather than a plan of aggression and flight etc. This kind of work can be undertaken alone but is often most effective with a specialist who deals with deep psychology and trauma.
Within security disciplines a new understanding of what kind of warrior is needed to show for duty is required. The old adages and ancient archetypes that had developed society’s ideas of what a warrior is are proving to be outdated and in need of review and renewal. Few warriors are asked how they would like to be, and are simply told how to comply with existing notions. One of the most entrenched notions is that humankind is wired up for aggression. This is simply not true as if it were there would never have been a case of Combat Stress and certainly not reported cases throughout the millennia. Our systems are often overwhelmed by the terror, level of expectation and callousness experienced in a war zone or other security operation area.
Although these top five issues are not the only facing the security industry they are sadly constant and emotional based. Education, retraining and honest, open discourse on these topics and others are what is necessary to make them manageable.
Link to post here.