Stress and Resiliency for Corrections Officers

The constant threat of violence, staffing issues, and the need to always be in a state of high awareness for long periods of time can be exhausting both mentally and physically.  As a correctional officer, whenever you are on duty, you will be required to remain in a state of hypervigilance and with that comes stress.  

Over time, unmanaged stress will have a significant impact on your body.  Unmanaged stress could lead to increased health risks, memory issues, anxiety, depression just to mention a few. 

We have all experienced stress.  Most of us were able to counter the effects and return to normal quickly.  This is short term stress.  That stress that causes your muscles to tense up and then release when the stressor is gone. 

Long term stress is when you are always tense, and/or develop frequent headaches. Long term stress that is not dealt with can lead to other more serious health issues.

In this course we will get familiar with stress, short term and long term, good stress and bad, and we will discuss the many ways to manage the stresses you will encounter in you personal and work life.

This course will also touch on Resiliency.

Resilience is our ability to recover quickly, or bounce back, from a negative experience or challenge.  Resilience can be built through an increase in your confidence level that you will get through or work around your problems, and by learning effective ways to cope.  Basically, it is our ability to withstand adversity and recover from difficult life events. Resilience is important because it gives us the emotional strength to cope with trauma, hardship, and life events. 

Individuals who are resilient have the resources, strengths, and skills to overcome these challenges and work through setbacks.