How to understand and deal with a mental apocalypse is important for anyone in police psychology<\/em><\/strong> to understand. But mental apocalypses are not just limited to people in law enforcement. \u00a0Close your eyes and imagine the sun is setting, and beautiful pinks, reds, and oranges light up the sky. Beautiful mountains and glistening lakes surround you. You are sitting next to the love of your life as you ride off on a horse into a beach sunset. Extremely happy?!\u00a0 Of Course!\u00a0 But riding at you, with their swords drawn, is danger, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse of Your Life.\u00a0 They can destroy you in a minute and ruin any idyllic fantasy.\u00a0 They are better known as: Denial, Escape, Helplessness, and Blame.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Words Create Stress<\/strong><\/h2>\nThroughout life, everyone will inevitably experience moments of hardship, moments in which you may feel like you are going to collapse and fall apart because the world seems against you<\/a>. Such feelings invariably come along with little voices in your head. And if you think these voices are going to be like good tenants, mild-mannered and pay their rent on time, you would be completely mistaken. These voices dig their way into your thought processes, worm through your mind, and plants seeds of doubt and uncertainty. They\u2019re persons you know so well, so let me introduce you to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse of Your Life, devious little serpents who take pleasure in collapse and destruction.<\/span><\/p>\n
Denial, a charming fellow on the outside\u2014has sweeping brown hair and deep blue eyes\u2014is a nasty human being on the inside. Whispering to you misguiding lies, telling you that your life is fine, and nothing is unsteady, when in fact you are on the brink of collapse. The sweet voice is as poisonous as a viper, forcing you to refuse help as you are slowly being convinced that nothing is wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n
Denial is bad, Escape may be even worse. Don\u2019t let his exterior confuse you, dressed as he is in welcoming clothes reminiscent of your last vacation to Costa Rica. Escape will tell you to run away from your problems, get away from everything for a while. \u201cMaybe you should just move to Florida or California or Hawaii.\u201d \u201cYour problems can\u2019t possibly find you there. And if they do, it\u2019s too hot for them to last very long anyway.\u201d Escape will wrap around you, and squeeze you until you can\u2019t move. With every breath, Escape tightens, making breathing impossible. Finally you succumb.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0Listen for the Whispers of Stress<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
$\"Crying$ <\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Helplessness is a large serpent that swallows you whole, while you are struggling, while you still have hope. Whispers, sometimes even shouting, that your problems have taken on a life of their own and there is nothing you can do about it. \u201cYou that you can\u2019t change anything so why try.\u201d \u201cNothing matters anymore because you are no longer in charge.\u201d Sometimes the trap is to remove accountability, you can\u2019t control it so give in. You feel like you are never going to be good enough<\/a>. You eventually feel like you are drowning in a pool of helplessness with nothing you can do to save yourself, no life preserver to reach out to.<\/span><\/p>\n
Then along comes Blame,\u00a0 part dragon-part sea serpent from the Arabian nights, repeating over and over again that it\u2019s not your fault\u2014that you are not the cause of any of your problems. \u201cBob ruined your chances at promotion.\u201d Or, \u201cIt was Sam, that idiot, who deliberately hid your car keys and now you\u2019re stuck at home.\u201d Or even, \u201cIt\u2019s not your fault you were up all night, YouTube just wouldn\u2019t let you sleep.\u201d Blame has a seductive voice as it lulls you to exposure.<\/span><\/p>\n
When you start hearing these Four Horsemen, when you hear yourself saying these things, you need to look at your life and ask yourself, \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d Your destruction is coming soon if you don\u2019t heed the warning. Start doing something. Start making changes. Luck may be about random events<\/a> happening together, but it won\u2019t compare to a call to action being answered. These little voices are your call to action!\u00a0 Listen for the phrases and signs of these voices, and if you hear them, get on your own horse and gallop away\u2014get help or talk to a mental health professional. Don\u2019t let these voices lead you down a trail to your Apocalypse.\u00a0 You if do not ride with the Four Horsemen, you are dragged behind them.\u00a0 And that just doesn\u2019t feel good.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Site Editor:\u00a0 Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
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Police Psychology | Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse of Your Life Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.\u00a0 ABPP How to understand and deal with a mental apocalypse is important for anyone in police psychology to understand. But mental apocalypses are not just limited to people in law enforcement. \u00a0Close your eyes and imagine the sun is setting, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17168878],"tags":[17168940,17168797,17168831],"class_list":["post-3695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thoughts","tag-apocalyptic-word","tag-police-psychology","tag-police-stress"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1036,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=1036","url_meta":{"origin":3695,"position":0},"title":"Police Psychology | The Mental Game in Law Enforcement","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"February 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | The Mental Game in Law Enforcement \u201c90 percent of the game is half mental\u201d (attributed to Yogi Berra) by Doug Gentz, Ph.D. - Psychological Services After you\u2019ve acquired the knowledge and skills required for any performance, further improvement depends on your ability to manage your nervous system\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Effort"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Effort","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168880"},"img":{"alt_text":"performance 1 Police pscyhology","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/performance-1-300x16.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7132,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=7132","url_meta":{"origin":3695,"position":1},"title":"Police Psychology Book Review: Towards the integration of police psychology techniques to combat juvenile delinquency in K-12 classrooms","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"December 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology Book Review:\u00a0 Rose, Gary. (2013) Towards the integration of police psychology techniques to combat juvenile delinquency in K-12 classrooms by Paul Cech \u00a0 Gary Rose revised his doctoral dissertation to create a book that will be of special interest to readers who are peace officers; teachers; police, school,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168876"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1046,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=1046","url_meta":{"origin":3695,"position":2},"title":"Police Psychology | The Time Management Matrix as a Mental Health Concept","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"February 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | The Time Management Matrix as a Mental Health Concept \u00a0 Anyone involved in police psychology knows how important it is to understand proper time management. However, the technique I use can be applied to anyone in any field. 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