Survive the Mental Ambush ~ Corrections

Going Beyond the Call ~ S.M.A.R.T. - Survive the Mental Ambush Resiliency Tactics

~ Deirdre von Krauskopf, Author/Speaker/Consultant

At 0700 hours, Officer Sanchez completes her third consecutive 16-hour shift … this week. Staffing is at an all-time low, and she is obligated to stay. She can’t afford to quit like many others from her hiring class, half of which barely lasted the first year.

As she drives home, she is still on edge. Her eyes scan every shadow, every movement. Her heart races when a car suddenly pulls up and brakes hard beside her at a stop light. Her fingers grip the steering wheel as her tension headache pulses behind her eyes.?

At home, her kids and husband clamor for attention, excitedly grabbing her, and in her exhaustion, she yells, “Stop bugging me, let me have a minute for the love of God,” and pushes them away. Her husband snaps, “You’ve changed since you started that job; you’re angry and mean now. I hardly know you anymore!” She wants to counter that she’s the same person but can’t. She doesn’t even recognize herself some days and doesn’t have the strength to defend herself. Her eyes glaze over as she disassociates from the biting truth of his words and stumbles through getting the kids off to school before flopping into bed.

She has few precious hours to sleep before the next shift. The peace of sleep eludes her. “Damn, why can't I just get to sleep?” She tosses and turns, exhausted but still alert. Her mind is in turmoil: the argument with her husband, the eyes of inmates tracking her as she passes, the echoes of cell doors slamming shut. The constant tension of being on edge eats away at her. This isn't hypervigilance anymore. This is her life now. Why does it feel like she’s the one serving a sentence?

Folks, this is the reality for many corrections officers. Some might think Survive the Mental Ambush Resiliency Tactics is just another signs and symptoms workshop on mental health, a box you must tick for scheduled training. But I'm here to tell you that what we share could save your life! It can enhance your most important relationships, including the one with yourself. Perhaps all we will accomplish is help save a little of your sanity, but you will remember the lessons, and all our mind and body management techniques will still sneak into your head when you need them most. If you don’t need such support at this career stage, you will be well-primed to recognize a peer, friend, or subordinate in desperate need. Someone who will see that they are drowning in their stress injury, and you will know what to do to influence them into seeking the right help.

Statistics come from various sources pending the region but seem consistent, troubling as they are:

??????? 2023 Total Line of Duty Deaths: 139

??????? 156/yr. average 2016-2022 who committed suicide

??????? 1 in 3 dealing with PTSD / CPTSD / Moral Injury

??????? 10% have considered taking their own life

??????? 50% do not feel safe at work

??????? 25-31% of correctional officers report as depressed

??????? 30% report anxiety

??????? 40% higher sick and leave time than ANY other career

??????? 30% higher divorce rate / higher than average domestic abuse

??????? Life expectancy is 12-20 years shorter than the average

The Unique Challenges of Corrections Work

You might think you signed up for a job, but you got a pressure cooker. The corrections environment is unlike any other in law enforcement or public safety. Every day, you step into a world where tension is the norm, where violence can erupt at any moment. You are outnumbered, often vastly so, by individuals whom society has deemed too dangerous to remain free. Your hypervigilance isn't paranoia – it's a survival mechanism.

But it doesn't stop there. Severe understaffing plagues facilities across the nation. How many of you have worked double- or triple-shifts this month alone? This chronic understaffing doesn't just mean extended hours and physical exhaustion. It means fewer eyes watching your back, increased responsibilities, and a constant state of high alert that your body and mind are not designed to maintain indefinitely.

Additionally, some also contend with a toxic work environment, so it's not just the inmates you have to worry about. Office politics, administrative pressures, public scrutiny – it all adds up. You're expected to be rugged and unbreakable, but even the toughest of the toughest have a breaking point. Many also contend with the stigma that shuns showing vulnerability. That's often seen as a liability, not a strength. While true, while doing your rounds, it needs to stay in that time and place. The fact is that self-managed care isn’t being vulnerable. It is a tactical strategy and armor against a known threat. So, what happens when you're constantly operating under these conditions? The toll on your mental and physical health is severe and often invisible until it's almost too late to reverse.

Studies show that corrections officers experience PTSD at rates 50% higher than combat veterans. Think about that for a moment—the mental health outcomes you face rival those of soldiers in war zones. Many others suffer from long-term CPTSD, and the work environment plagues many with a deep Moral Injury.

Going Beyond the Call does not teach "woo-woo" stuff. Every tactic is presented with the science behind how it changes or adapts a healthier version of you. Some tactics will work for you, and some won’t, but how will you know without trying them? The alarming statistics above will not change with the ongoing stigma and fear of seeking help that remains rampant in your profession. Ignoring the problems of stress, trauma, and moral injury doesn’t make it go away. It just simmers and attacks you later on your life’s journey. I understand you are trained to be the helpers, not to need help yourself. But listen, that mindset is literally killing you.

In our training, we will talk honestly about the silent epidemic ravaging your ranks—the how and why your brain and nervous system are not always your friend. We will even share how a trauma-informed mindset will lessen a toxic work environment. We will talk about the addictions that tempt you as an escape and some tactics to regain self-managed control before they grip you too hard and therapy is needed. We will show you how to build a proper sleep hygiene routine. I will ask you to play along and practice some quick and private resiliency tactics that are most popular with your peers who have taken our two-day training. Most importantly, we will leave you curious and ready to learn how to fight back and survive the mental ambush, whether it is already damaging your life or has yet to come!

Let's start with acknowledging the extreme stress of your job. Preparing for and Surviving the Mental Ambush means not waiting until you experience disorder(s), health challenges, relationship loss, or career-limiting behavior situations. We will help you self-manage and advocate for armoring your mind in the same way you armor your body.

When I wrote "Going Beyond the Call: Mental Health Fitness for Public Safety Professionals," I aimed to create enough curiosity about one’s mental fitness that folks were driven to take the next steps toward self-care. I hit you with the reality that ambushes come at you from a psychological, physiological, relationship, and organizational direction. I created the S.M.A.R.T. Survive the Mental Ambush Resiliency Tactics Workbook to help further your self-care journey. The goal is to rip off all the ridiculous band-aid training solutions that tick a box but don’t motivate personal change. I want to dismantle the uneducated mindset of stigma, the “lock it all in the vault” mentality that feeds disease and lessens your life span up to 20 years. I want to build a measurable risk management incentive into workplace critical core training so that stress, the hidden killer, doesn’t ruin so many lives. Agencies do an excellent job of post-critical incident management; agencies are advancing their support of PTSD and suicide prevention; however, the pre-event preparedness for the mental ambush needs some work, and that's where we excel. But I cannot do it alone. I need your help. You have the power to advocate change. For yourself, those you lead, your peers, and all the interactions along the way that make life better … or worse.

Corrections folks: I invite you to attend one of my sessions at the FCCD 94th Annual Criminal Justice Training Institute. Together, we can make a difference! #FCCDmakingadifference #GBTC.The1stLineOfHealing=You

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