Terror, Trauma, and Employees
One day you feel safe living in the United States, and the next day you feel as if you
live in a war zone. That's how many employees felt after learning that terrorists
hijacked four commercial airplanes, two of the largest buildings in the world were
completely destroyed, and that over 3,000 people died on September 11, 2001. Within
hours the attacks were over, but the lasting feelings of terror for many will last for
months to years.
On the day of the terrorist attacks, the normal defense mechanisms that we use to
minimize the impact of terrible news and events were overwhelmed. Normally, we could
have told ourselves that terrorist attacks happen to other people in other places.
Normal defense mechanisms, however, do not work when terrorism strikes in your own
backyard; as a result, many people were traumatically affected.
Millions of people were traumatized as they watched the events unfold in real life
or on television. And many of those traumatized have or are likely to develop mild
to severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a type of anxiety disorder
that creates both physical and psychological symptoms that impairs the individual
for days or months following the traumatic incident.
PTSD develops after a person has their sense of safety suddenly shattered following
an event in which they believed that his or her own life or another's life was in
jeopardy. Witnessing airplanes crashing into buildings and two of the world's
largest buildings collapsing is the type of trauma that causes a person's sense
of safety to be shattered, whether the person was at ground zero or watching the
tragedy on television.
How PTSD can develop in your employees.
1.) An employee witnesses the terrorist attacks in person or on television.
2.) Following the witnessing of the terrorist attacks, your employee develops a deep
sense of terror that shatters his or her sense of safety.
3.) As a result of their lack of safety, your employee says or thinks, "I could
have been on one of those four airplanes or in one of the buildings destroyed."
The employee comes to the thought, "It could have been me in that building or in
one of the hijacked airplanes."
4.) An employee develops physical and psychological symptoms of stress. Physical
symptoms can include: crying, headaches, stomachaches, insomnia, muscle tension,
appetite changes, exhaustion, and an exaggerated startle response. Psychological
symptoms can include: intrusive and recurrent thoughts or images of the terrorist
attacks, nightmares, irritability, anxiety, survivor guilt, and shock.
5.) Lastly, an employee attempts to rebuild his or her shattered sense of safety.
Early attempts of safety rebuilding tend to be very bold and firm for a traumatized
employee. For example, "I will never fly on commercial airline again!" "I will
not work in any building that an airplane could fly into." "If I do fly, I will
get off the airplane if anyone appears to be from the Middle East."
Employers need to realize that an employee's early attempts to rebuild safety
are usually over exaggerations of their eventual decisions or behaviors.
Therefore, employees need to be careful not to over react to these early attempts
to rebuild their sense of safety.
What can employers do to help their employees rebuild their sense of safety?
1.) Critical Incident Stress Debriefings (CISD) are on-site counseling sessions
for employees designed to help employees minimize the effects and symptoms of trauma.
Professionally trained counselors conduct on-site CISD groups for employees. These
on-site groups (10-15 employees per group) allow employees time to express the
feelings and thoughts they experienced as a result of the traumatic incident, their
symptoms and reactions to it, and how their life is now different. The counselor
also provides education for the employees on how they can reduce symptoms and improve
their coping skills.
2.) Don't force but process, i.e., talk about feelings and thoughts, with an employee
who tells you that he/she will never get on a commercial airline again. If you
attempt to force the employee back into flying by force or threats, you will only
further lengthen the employee's recovery time. It is best to process with the
employee their feelings and thoughts, in the hopes of coming up with a negotiated
compromise to the employee's decision never to fly again. Don't forget that it is
a good idea to allow or give employees some control over decisions that affect them
personally, such as, when they should start flying again.
3.) Don't alienate but role model for employees how to rebuild their sense of safety.
You witnessed the same terrorist attacks as your employees did. Therefore, you can
tell your employees that you can truly understand some of their feelings and reactions
to the terrorist attacks. When you understand someone's experiences, you can become
a helpful role model. For example, by telling and demonstrating to your troubled
employee(s) how you are rebuilding your sense of safety, you are helping your employees
increase their own feelings of security. However, in order to be a role model for
your employees, you may need to seek your own debriefing, counseling, or coaching.
Remember, you may have been traumatized too!
A sign that an employee is starting to recover from trauma is the gradual rebuilding
of his/her sense of safety based on rational thoughts. For instance, an employee
who originally decided to never fly again decides to fly commercially to local cities,
next he/she decides to fly nationally, but not to major metropolitan cites like
Los Angeles, Washington, DC, or New York. In this instance, the employee is gradually
starting to conclude that not all flying is unsafe, and with continued flying and
safety building he/she will start to alter his/her earlier, less rational, thoughts
about the risks of flying commercially.
Happy Working,
Gary Vikesland, MA LP CEAP
Employer-Employee.com
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