![\"anxiety,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/anxiety.jpg\")
<\/a>sword that was ripping out his insides. Mike had a serious anxiety disorder compounded with a quadruple vial of hubris. He didn\u2019t listen when I told him not to go back to work yet. \u201cLife takes awhile to heal; medicine takes awhile to fully work,\u201d I said. He didn\u2019t listen when I said \u201cyour mother had this and you brother had this, it might be in your family.\u201d Rather he listened to a boss who said \u201cget back on the horse, psychologists don\u2019t know about being on the job.\u201d He got his medicine and had a flight to health, a flight that made a quick stop in the \u201crelapse zone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIn police psychology<\/strong>, we understand that some accidents and injuries are to be expected. People get injured all the time. Whether it\u2019s stubbing your toe against a stair, twisting your ankle while stepping off the sidewalk, or accidentally walking into clear glass doors (just me?), the occurrence of accidents is largely inevitable. This same phenomenon can extend to larger <\/span><\/p>\n incidents as well, in which people walk away with more than just a bruised toe or a scraped knee. People break bones, sprain ankles, blow out knees and shoulders, and even need stitches for numerous types of injuries. Following each type, there is always a recovery time. Yet, when it comes to any mental injury, there is a huge double standard, and allowing sufficient recovery time is unheard of, a sign of weaknesses.<\/span><\/p>\n When someone hurts their knee or ankle, the first thing that all doctors recommend is something called RICE (a process I made great use of during my football days). RICE stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Most notable in this acronym is the need for rest. You are told to rest that body part and disengage from participation in strenuous activity from anywhere between a few days and a few months, until you are completely recovered. If you hurt your shoulder, you are sent to rehab. If you hurt your neck, you are sent to rehab. If you hurt your back, you are sent to rehab. Indeed, all physical injuries involve a recovery time where you are recommended to rest and avoid using that part until complete recovery, which often does not happen until after some intensive physical therapy to help you transition back to normal use. Any employer will respond with understanding and sympathy when you tell him or her you need a few days off because you pulled out your back. Any employer would encourage you to take it easy when you sprain your wrist or need to recover from a bout of the flu. Or, even spent too much time around a bottle of bourbon at your niece\u2019s wedding last night. But take one mental health day\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n When people experience a mental \u201cinjury,\u201d when they have panic attacks, bouts of The age old \u201cget back on the horse when it throws you\u201d philosophy is not just wrong; it is dangerous. When someone is struggling, forcing people to suck it up, or \u201cjust deal with it\u201d is extremely unhealthy. When it comes to police stress<\/u> and police psychology<\/u>, improper rest and rejuvenation from mental injury is like running a marathon after a broken ankle.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2014, I had a year from hell. I had gotten Disney Toe at the end of 2013 and had to take time to recuperate from that. What is Disney Toe you may ask \u2013 well I went to Disney with my subclinical high-energy older brother (great guy, just at a different speed than the most of the world) and he ran us ragged. My then seven year old LOVED IT. My feet didn\u2019t. I had a blister on the bottom of my big toe. I put some over-the-counter cream on it and kept it in band-aids for the rest of the trip, figuring I would wait until I got home to go to the doctor if it got worse. Went to the doctor and he rushed me to the hospital for four days of IV antibiotics and a month more as an outpatient. I had a reaction to an antibiotic and got bell\u2019s palsy,<\/em> which is like having a stroke on one side of your face and lasts about 6 weeks. The antibiotics didn\u2019t work as it was a strep infection that got into the bone, and I was back in the hospital just as the bell\u2019s palsy<\/em> went away. I lost the toe in an operation that had me in the hospital for another 2 weeks. I was on a walker then crutches until May, when I hired for a speaking gig in Iceland. Yes Iceland, I thought \u201cthings are turning around.\u201d In July, I couldn\u2019t breathe in two incidents and found out I had blockages in my heart that they couldn\u2019t stint. I had open heart surgery, quadruple bypass. I went back to work three weeks after bypass surgery because I had lost so much time with the foot, I didn\u2019t want things to get worse. I had the physical treatment, but didn\u2019t attend to the mental RICE. I struggled through last year with PTSD, all kinds of emotions and some physical problems, until August when I went on a vacation to Canada with my wife. Yeah, I started this blog then just to add to my stress. At least something good came out of something not so good. And it actually helped me stay out of \u201cthe relapse zone.\u201d \u00a0I also learned the hard way about how important it is to recuperate from the mental side of an injury or an event.<\/span><\/p>\n When you rest, you need to maintain movement<\/a>. The rest that I am recommending you to take following any mental injury is not a rest of inactivity and laziness. Rather it is a time of rejuvenation and peace, where you take time to focus on yourself and fully <\/em>recover. It is a time where you can rediscover your passions and the daily pleasures in life. Take time to reconnect with your spouse, your children, old friends, and for some people, even their spirituality. Take a few minutes to plan for the future, smell the roses, appreciate some fresh air, take a walk, maybe even prepare a couple of home-cooked meals. Take some time to appreciate the simple things<\/a>. It is a time far from being unproductive and wasteful. It is a beautiful and important time of renewal, and a time in which you can return stronger and healthier than ever.<\/span><\/p>\n Just like any physical injury, mental injuries of all sorts require proper rest before you can get better completely. This is true whether you work as a teacher, a lawyer, an athlete, or in police psychology<\/em>. Sometimes, you or your patient may have both a physical and a mental injury. Make sure both get time.<\/span><\/p>\n Blog Administrator: Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP Please share this article from down below.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Please join the email list on the top of the sidebar and you can get these sent to your email.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Come back regularly for more updated blogs on police psychology<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Police Psychology | A Toe for Mickey \u00a0 Mike went down to the floor a couple of times. Doubled over, holding his stomach, wrenching, trying to catch a breath between the strokes of thesword that was ripping out his insides. Mike had a serious anxiety disorder compounded with a quadruple vial of hubris. He didn\u2019t […]<\/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":[17168882],"tags":[17168931,17168922,17168797,17168932],"class_list":["post-995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resilience","tag-healing","tag-law-enforcement","tag-police-psychology","tag-treatment"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=36","url_meta":{"origin":995,"position":0},"title":"Book Review: Personality Assessment in Police Psychology","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"February 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I have to admit, I had no intention of reading this book in one sitting, in fact, I was only really going to read about half of the essays in this collection of essays.\u00a0 I have to admit I was invited to write a chapter in this book but really\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168876"},"img":{"alt_text":"Weiss","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/weiss-212x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2644,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=2644","url_meta":{"origin":995,"position":1},"title":"Police Psychology | Police Divorce Part 2: Hate to Admit","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"June 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | Police Divorce Part 2: \u00a0Hate to Admit by Dr. Gary S. Aumiller When I was in my late 20\u2019s and just married, I asked a friend of ours (who was really old, a few years short of 40) what was it like to be divorced?\u00a0 Does it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Change"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Change","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168881"},"img":{"alt_text":"police, divorce, psychology","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/post-divorce-242x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":386,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=386","url_meta":{"origin":995,"position":2},"title":"Police Psychology | The Police Candidate Interpretive Report","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"June 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Police Candidate Interpretive Report \u00a0 I had one of the first cell phones for public consumption.\u00a0 It fit in a bag.\u00a0 The battery lasted minutes not hours, and it was essentially a car phone that could be moved around.\u00a0 But visions of Dick Tracy\u2019s watch and Agent 86\u2019s shoe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tests"","block_context":{"text":"Tests","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168877"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":944,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=944","url_meta":{"origin":995,"position":3},"title":"Police Psychology | Majestic Ballroom","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"December 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | When You Start Out You Never Know Where You'll Wind Up By Ellen Kirschman I started out to be an actress and ended up as a police psychologist writing mysteries inspired by my clients. \u201cActing is physical,\u201c my first drama teacher roared as though still on stage.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Police Stress, Police Psychology","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Right-Wrong-Thing-for-Ellen.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1018,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=1018","url_meta":{"origin":995,"position":4},"title":"Police Psychology | Can\u2019t Stop Now","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"January 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | I Can\u2019t Stop Now! \u00a0 Police psychology has to deal with numbers of issues, but one that we often misdiagnose follows. \u201cHey! HEY !!! What the hell are you doing?\u201d \u201cI\u2019M CLEANING OUT YOUR DRIVEWAY. What\u2019s it look like?\u201d \u201cTim, there is a 50-70 mile an hour\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Emotions"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Emotions","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17165629"},"img":{"alt_text":"police psychology, snow scene","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/snow-scene-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":778,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=778","url_meta":{"origin":995,"position":5},"title":"Police Psychology |Memories, May Be Beautiful, but then\u2026Wait! What was I Singing!","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"October 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | Memories, May Be Beautiful, but then\u2026Wait! What was I Singing! \u00a0 We are servicing an aging police population and thus police psychology has to consider topics that escape younger people. For example, how many times have you put down your car keys for just a few minutes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Thoughts","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168878"},"img":{"alt_text":"figure with ribbon","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/figure-with-ribbon.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p60sbO-g3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=995"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1003,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995\/revisions\/1003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Police Psychology: Physical injuries<\/h2>\n
Police Psychology: Disney Toe Uncovered<\/h2>\n
<\/a>anxiety or depression, or anything of the sort, many times people are ashamed to say anything, knowing the looks of disapproval they will receive from their employers when they ask for some time off. It\u2019s odd that this should be the case when excessive stress, anxiety attacks, and even PTSD can have physical manifestations. Recovery time for any and all mental injury is equally important for true recovery, as is the rehab or therapy. When you allow yourself to become an emotional pinball<\/a>, you experience physical symptoms. When you overtax yourself through hard work and stress, you may feel headaches or nausea. But rather than ask for this \u201cspecial treatment\u201d they instead jump right back into work. This is hugely detrimental for your well being, as resting and therapy are two of the most important steps for recovery. (By the way, psychologists are the worse at this.)<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n