NCJ Number
141556
Journal
Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education Volume: 38 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1993) Pages: 23-32
Date Published
1993
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This clinical treatise describes the psychological profile of a police officer who suffers from three dimensions of emotional complications: combat post-traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism, and role immersion.
Abstract
The victim of combat post-traumatic stress disorder may experience some of these symptoms: anger and irritability, anxiety reactions, chronic depression, difficulty trusting others, isolation and alienation, low tolerance of stress, low self-esteem, sleep disorders, and substance abuse. Victims of this syndrome may be attracted to police work as a way of obtaining control and safety in a hostile environment. They may also be drawn to alcohol and drug use in order to diminish the intensity of the symptoms from which they suffer. Addiction to alcohol or drugs can be viewed as a disease of emotional suppression, in which unresolved feelings of pain, hurt, guilty, shame, and fear are compensated for by emotions ranging from grandiosity to delusion, aggressiveness, righteousness, compulsive-obsessiveness, euphoria, and perfectionism. The creation of role immersion or professional protective emotional suppression (PPES) is exhibited by these dimensions: emotional intrapersonal, cognitive intrapersonal, interpersonal, societal norms, cultural/ethnic norms, societal role expectations, and realistic stress producers. 4 figures and 7 references