However, medically stress is actually a perception. According to Hans Selye (the Founder of Stress Medicine) it is a byproduct of all we do--waking, sleeping, running, breathing, working, not working. It is a part of life and in proper doses it can animate and inspire us. In too heavy a dose, it becomes toxic.
He distinguishes stress from strain. Stress is the event or the incoming force. Strain is our response. It is the way a person reacts to a situation. It is our receptivity and perception. One person might find something frightening (and therefore stressful) that another person would find challenging (and therefore even exhilarating). It is still quite real, of course. Stress--and the way we "strain" against it or through it--has been implicated in most of what leads people to call their doctors and linked as a major component in back pain, heart disease, cancer, and chronic ailments such as fibro-myalgia.
Stress in the workplace is costly. It costs employers in terms of down-time, medical reimbursements, workmen's compensation, poor production, and bad publicity in the community.
Trauma in the Workplace and Risk Management
These dissociative states are not limited to car accidents, plane crashes or military events and natural disasters. Smaller scale crises--pink slips, mistakes on important jobs, personnel issues--can take their toll on the job as well. Understanding this simple fact of human nature and, most importantly, knowing both what to expect and how to handle it can make the difference between a return to a normal work environment and a deterioration into risk management.
When I give this talk to emergency medical corporations and medical personnel, I sometimes begin with a simple question: Do you know what the number one factor is for litigation and malpractice lawsuits?
Every now and again, a few people raise their hands and answer correctly: It is not skill, technique, cleverness, strategy, or even whether the patient lives or dies. It is whether the clinical practitioner or emergency worker is perceived as having cared about the patient and the patient's family.
It is common knowledge in law circles that a person who believes that his doctor or provider cares about him is far, far less likely to seek compensation or damages for an injury that occurs on the job.
This perceived caring is a manifestation of what is called "Rapport," the sense that the person who is handling things cares, understands, and is doing everything possible to help.
utilizes authority (benevolent rather than commandeering), believability, and confident compassion to pave the way for words to be used for healing. With rapport, our words will be utilized and understood in the best way possible. Without rapport, Murphy's Law rules.
The same is true in the workplace. Diffusing a potentially critical situation is easier, more ethical, and more compassionate before it becomes critical. Knowing Verbal First Aid helps us to see the signs before they become symptoms. And when we do see symptoms, it helps us to gently address them so that the person is led to healing and resolution.
When people are scared, we look for a benevolent authority to tell us what to do, how to find safety. It is instinctive to all social animals. What we do and say in those moments is particularly important. Do we use those sensitive moments thoughtlessly, fanning the flames of anxiety or do we serve as a guiding light to lead someone to emotional and physical safety. With Verbal First Aid, the choice and the task are easy.
Verbal First Aid helps you know what to say when you need it most, when every moment and every word counts. Although it was initially created to help emergency medical and rescue personnel to do precisely the sort of thing I did with that frightened, young girl, anyone can use it anywhere. Wherever there is a human emotion or a vulnerable moment, Verbal First Aid can help.
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