RISKS OF ADDICTION IF YOU ARE A FIRST RESPONDER WITH PTSD

As a First Responder, you encounter a variety of situations, people, and environments. Yours is not a comfortable and climate controlled office, with 9-5 hours. Your office consists of an ambulance, a police car, or perhaps a fire apparatus. Your coworkers don’t wear suits and neither do you. The job you do, day in and day out, places you in situations you probably never dreamed you would be and that no television show could create. Reality for you is seeing people at the worst moments of their lives; it involves regularly interacting with people who abuse your services and scorn you simply for the uniform you put on faithfully every day. In your line of work, you consistently see people in hopeless situations which you try to alleviate, if only for a short time. With all this responsibility, stress, and exposure to traumatic situations, many First Responders experience PTSD. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is commonly discussed in regards to victims of violent crimes, chronic abuse, and returning military veterans. But what about the police officers, paramedics, EMT’s, and fire fighters who witness traumatic events, sometimes on a daily basis? The danger for falling into addiction is real for anyone with PTSD. And First Responders are no different.

Source: Risks of Addiction If You Are a First Responder with PTSD | Mark Lamplugh Jr | LinkedIn