Curing burnout: Part III

It would be hard to find a law enforcement officer who has not experienced burnout in some form or another. In the third installment of our week-long look at this serious problem, we take a deeper look at the problem and then give you some tips from the experts on how to lessen the impact of burnout.

Burnout is a special type of job stress — a state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion where you also have serious doubts about your competence and the value of your work. To read Part I of our series: an overview of the problem, Part II which has 9 questions to see if you have burnout and other information on symptoms.

Warning: this movie started out with an X rating. They did clean it up a bit to get an NC17 but it’s still raunchy. But the Bad Lieutenant, starring Harvey Keitel, has to be the best film ever made about a burned out, corrupt cop. He finds redemption working a rape case where the extraordinary goodness and grace of the victims transforms this veteran officer who has every vice known to man. If love could change this guy, its powers are limitless.

So, what can you do? While you may not control whether you pass the sergeant’s exam, get the transfer you’ve been wanting, or the new partner because the one you have is driving you insane, there are things you can do to prevent burnout. For cops, none of this is easy, but it can’t hurt to try and if you can do it and it works, you are going to feel a hell of a lot better.

• Plan at least one hour a day of relaxation time. Take a walk, ride a bike, read, listen to music, go to the gym.
• Develop friends and interests outside the job. This could be the most important thing you can do
• Find something outside of work that you are passionate about that’s challenging – a hobby or sports is perfect.
• Turn off your cell phone as often as possible and pick only certain times of the day to check email.
• Get enough sleep – never easy for those doing shift work. Getting fewer than six hours of sleep a night is a major cause of burnout. And with the special demands of police work, it can be life-threatening as well.
• A dysfunctional dynamic in the station house or precinct is a leading cause of burnout and issues with the boss are among the most stressful. Get some info on “managing up” and learn how to deal with a boss who is mean, hypercritical, and and/or a bully.
• Learn to say no. If you try to be everything to everyone you are at a high risk for burnout. Plus your reputation will suffer when you can’t deliver.
• Take vacation days. Americans will give up roughly 226 million vacation days this year. Don’t be one of them. One report found that 48% of workers felt happier and more positive about their job after taking a vacation. Since feeling cynical about your office is one of the key causes of burnout, taking a vacation is an easy to keep yourself going.

To read more check out www.helpguide.com.