The News You Need for May 28
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HR Homeroom: Self-Sabotage — From the Injured Worker Lens
Sarasota, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) -- Injured workers, on their path to recovery, often encounter numerous obstacles. Among these, self-sabotage stands out as a significant barrier, capable of impeding progress and well-being. Understanding and addressing self-sabotaging behaviors is a crucial step for injured workers to achieve successful rehabilitation and return to work. This article delves into the neuroscience behind self-sabotage in injured workers, its manifestations, and strategies to overcome these self-defeating behaviors. By grasping these aspects, injured workers can navigate their recovery process more effectively.
Understanding Self-Sabotage
Self-sabotage involves behaviors and thought patterns that undermine one's recovery and well-being. Common signs include avoiding treatment, negative self-talk, and non-compliance with medical advice. These behaviors often stem from psychological issues such as fear of the future, low self-esteem, and frustration with the injury and recovery process. Neuroscience research indicates that chronic pain and stress can alter brain function, affecting areas like the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, leading to self-sabotaging behaviors. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for decision-making and impulse control, can be impaired by ongoing stress. At the same time, the amygdala, which processes emotions, can become overactive, leading to heightened anxiety and fear responses. Recognizing these neurological factors can help in addressing self-sabotage more effectively.
Self-Sabotage in Injured Workers
Injured workers may experience emotional and psychological challenges, such as feeling isolated, helpless, or anxious about their recovery. These feelings can lead to self-sabotaging behaviors, such as skipping therapy sessions, not following medical advice, or engaging in negative self-talk that diminishes their motivation and hope. The brain's response to pain and stress can exacerbate these behaviors, creating a cycle of self-sabotage. Pain can increase the activity of the brain's pain centers, making it harder to focus on positive outcomes and adhere to recovery plans. Understanding how injury and stress affect brain function can provide insights into breaking this cycle and promoting a more favorable recovery experience.
Consequences of Self-Sabotage
Self-sabotage can significantly impact an injured worker's recovery. Delayed or incomplete recovery, prolonged pain, and reduced functionality are common outcomes. Self-sabotage can strain relationships with family, friends, and healthcare providers, leading to further isolation and distress. Neuroscientific studies show that chronic stress and negative behaviors can weaken the brain's neural pathways for resilience and recovery. This weakening can impair the brain's ability to heal and adapt, making recovery more difficult and protracted. These changes emphasize the importance of addressing self-sabotage to enhance overall well-being and recovery outcomes.
Strategies to Overcome Self-Sabotage
Building self-awareness is the first crucial step for injured workers to overcome self-sabotage. Recognizing self-sabotaging behaviors and their triggers is essential. Injured workers can work with counselors or therapists to develop this awareness. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a practical and effective tool that can help reframe negative thoughts and promote healthier behaviors. CBT can assist injured workers in understanding the connection between their thoughts, emotions, and actions, empowering them to break free from self-sabotaging patterns.
Developing emotional intelligence and resilience is another crucial strategy. Managing emotions, coping with stress, and maintaining a positive outlook can enhance recovery. Techniques such as mindfulness and resilience training can rewire the brain, improving its capacity to handle stress and support healing. Mindfulness practices can help injured workers stay present and reduce the impact of negative thoughts. At the same time, resilience training can build their ability to bounce back from setbacks. These practices can strengthen the brain's neural pathways associated with positive thinking and recovery.
Creating a supportive recovery environment is not just beneficial, it's essential for injured workers. Engaging family, friends, and healthcare providers in recovery can provide emotional and practical support. This supportive network can buffer the effects of stress and enhance the brain's ability to recover from injury. Encouragement and positive reinforcement from loved ones can motivate injured workers to adhere to their recovery plans and stay committed to their goals. Additionally, healthcare providers can offer tailored support and interventions to address specific challenges injured workers face, showing that their needs are understood and valued.
Practical tips for daily self-management and self-care can also play a significant role in overcoming self-sabotage. Setting achievable recovery goals, maintaining a regular schedule, and practicing self-care activities such as gentle exercise, relaxation techniques, and hobbies can help injured workers stay focused and positive. These activities can promote neuroplasticity, aiding in the brain's recovery process. Regular exercise, for example, can release endorphins that reduce pain and improve mood. At the same time, relaxation techniques can lower stress levels and enhance mental clarity. By incorporating these practices into their daily routine, injured workers can create a positive feedback loop that supports their recovery and well-being.
Next Steps
Self-sabotage is a significant barrier to recovery for injured workers. However, by overcoming self-sabotage and building self-awareness, developing emotional intelligence, and creating a supportive environment, injured workers can achieve a successful recovery. Understanding the neuroscience behind self-sabotage provides valuable insights into practical strategies for enhancing recovery and well-being. Addressing self-sabotage can lead to better health outcomes, improved quality of life, and a more favorable return to work experience. This journey to wellness and return to work may not be easy, but with the right strategies and support, it is definitely within reach, instilling a sense of hope and motivation in the audience.
Do You Know the Rule? Mich. Limitation of Liability
Detroit, MI (WorkersCompensation.com) -- A Michigan rule spells out that no compensation shall be payable for an occupational disease if the employee at the time of entering into the employment of the employer by whom the compensation would otherwise be payable, or thereafter, willfully and falsely represents in writing that he has not previously suffered from the disease which is the cause of the disability or death.
Where an occupational disease is aggravated by any other disease or infirmity, not itself compensable, or where disability or death from any other cause, not itself compensable, is aggravated, prolonged, accelerated or in any way contributed to by an occupational disease, the compensation payable shall be a proportion only of the compensation that would be payable if the occupational disease were the sole cause of the disability or death as such occupational disease, as a causative factor, bearing to all the causes of such disability or death, such reduction in compensation to be effected by reducing the number of weekly payments or the amounts of such payments, as under the circumstances of the particular case may be for the best interest of the claimant or claimants.
Case examples
Acox v. General Motors Corp., 481 N.W. 2d 749 (Mich. Ct. App. 1991). The claimant had asthma, and the employer alleged that her pre-existing lung condition "inevitably" developed into an occupational disease such that recovery was barred. The court disagreed, writing, "We believe an ordinary disease of life is not converted into an occupational disease by virtue of workplace aggravation or acceleration."
Leach v. Detroit Health Corp., 403 N.W. 2d 803 (Mich. 1987). Held that under the "Larson rule," the following factors must be present before a false statement is will bar benefits:
(1) The employee must have knowingly and willfully made a false representation as to his physical condition.
(2) The employer must have relied on the false representation and this reliance must have been a substantial factor.
(3) There must have been a causal connection between the false representation and the injury.
DeVores v. Ford Motor Company, 429 N.W. 2d 500 (Mich. Ct. App. 1988). Building on the Leach case, the court spelled out the elements that "would seem" to be required to make a case on a false representation:
(1) Willful and false representations
(2) In writing
(3) The claimant has not previously suffered from the disability disease that constitutes the basis of her claim.
Workers Attacked by Customers in Separate Incidents Across Country
Los Angeles, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) – A Los Angeles restaurant employee was attacked this week when a customer said his food was taking too long to come out.
Kevin Oxlaj, a busser and host at Los Angeles’ Wokcano, an Asian restaurant and bar, said he was standing behind the counter when the customer began shouting at the pregnant waitress about his food. Oxlaj spoke up for the waitress as the customer began to walk away.
“I told him, ‘Please don’t scream at my co-worker. She’s pregnant. She can’t be going through all this stress, please show some respect,'” Oxlaj?told KABC. “We did tell him that we apologize. We did tell him we are sorry that it took forever.”
Instead, the customer attacked Oxlaj. Video of the event showed the customer removing his jacket during the confrontation and striking Oxlaj in the jaw. While Oxlaj was able to push the man off, the customer attacked again and landed several other hits before another customer was able to break the fight up.
“I felt the rest of the swings,” Oxlaj told local news outlets. “A customer ended up getting out of his table, ran out of his seat and was able to push him out, but as he was pushing him away from me, the guy had me, like, still by the arm … didn’t want to let me go.”
Officials said Oxlaj is off of work as he recovers from his injuries.
In Victorville, Calif., a woman attacked a grocery store employee who accused her of stealing alcohol.
Officials said Ginny Denise Nicholson, 25, was arrested after police said she attacked a Hesperia Stater Bros. store.
Police said Nicholson entered the store on May 15 and hid alcohol inside a bag and tried to leave he store without paying for it.
"A Stater Bros. Markets employee attempted to stop Nicholson as she exited the store, and Nicholson assaulted the employee," the agency said in a?written statement.
Police said the female employee was taken to the hospital with a broken nose and cuts.
Nicholson fled the building but was identified and arrested. Her bail was set at $50,000, court documents said.
In North Highlands, Calif., a man was stabbed four times as he tried to stop an assault on a grocery store employee.
Police said a good Samaritan stepped in to break up a fight between a grocery store employee and another customer. According to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, an employee of the North Highlands grocery store asked the suspect, who is thought to be homeless, to leave the property. The good Samaritan saw the suspect attack the employee, and attempt to drag the employee down.
The man, who asked not to be identified, said he drove to the assault, got out of his car and told the suspect that law enforcement was on the way. The suspect, Aaron Gonzalez, then allegedly grabbed a knife from his car and stabbed him four times.
Gonzalez was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Police said he was arrested a short time later and taken in to custody. The employee was not injured.
And in Spokane, a woman was accused of attacking a teen employee of Plato’s Closet after she allegedly tried to steal hundreds of dollars-worth of clothing during a sale.
Police said during the sale, one of the women wanted to go into a dressing room, and was told that she couldn’t go into the changing room with accessories. Employees told her they would hold the accessories while she tried on the clothes.
When the woman refused, employees insisted, and the woman started screaming at people, then ran for the door. When a teen employee tried to stop her, she assaulted the employee. Surveillance video showed the woman, Chelsie Castagna, attacking the employee.
Other employees said the employee was physically alright but shaken up after the incident.
Castagna was arrested and charged with robbery.
Beth Roman, the Plato’s Closet owner, said the location has lost close to $30,000 in merchandise from theft.
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