Augustus, are you provincial or federal?

Thanks, I’ve fought the battle with PTSD starting back in my military days and I doubt my correctional career has done anything to help. Those are just my recomendations based on what helped me and may or may not help someone else who is or may find themself in the same situation. I never got into drug abuse but I’ve seen many who have and it never ends well. My vice was alcohol and it often brings the same results. Health issues, broken relationships, depression, financial problems and so on, it’s a very difficult trap to escape from once it starts. Everyone wants to be the big bad wolf and hide weakness, but I can see no shame in asking for help when you really need it. We all count on our brothers and sisters to run into hell with us, it’s no different when we carry out our physically wounded. Those we count on most to keep us safe are often the most understanding even though they might not show it. Be honest with yourself and if you need help, seek it out. Tough as it may be your not alone, we all bleed together in more ways than one. Asking for help takes real courage, and thats nothing to be ashamed of.

It could not have been said any better Irish Assassin! Unfortunately there is no “real” treatment for this type of problem many of us face. All the studies point to exactly what you explained. They say you need to do something that means something to you, that makes you feel good, such as a hobby or activity (minus the drugs/alcohol) in order to move past the bad feelings that PTSD presents. The same goes for those who are suicidal. In order to help keep someone alive another day is to go out and do something that the suicidal person enjoys. Most importantly, TALK TO SOMEBODY!! Whether it be a hotline, priest, psychologists, or maybe even a good friend, it is best to talk about the issues you have and the feelings you are struggling with.

JOINT COMMITTEE REPORT ON FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS – CORRECTIONAL SERVICE OF CANADA – APRIL 2000 JOINT STUDY

This is the study. I’m sure to google it and read if you can take the dryness. For those shooters out there: Deer season in the midwest(NE) 3 Mule deer does and one 4×4 buck. Looking forward to sausage,ring balogne and jerky= stress relief!! PTSD— Put The Silly Deer down!!

Best thing one can do is to find an outlet hobby. Something that causes a temporary seperation from the rest of the world, and no I don’t mean drugs or alcohol either. The occasional cold one with friends does help from time to time but make it something to enjoy the company of others, not drown your sorrows. My vice has become wrenching and riding vintage motorcycles for example. It takes my mind off from the stress of work and lets me focus on myself for a little while. Anything constructive from working out in the gym, to DIY projects work great for me. PTSD sucks, but there are ways to help make it less of an issue.

Augustus,

I am from Minnesota. We have several different facilities in MN. Depending on what facility you work at is going to depend on whether the COs are happy or not. I think for the most part we are happy. They pay is okay for what we do and we deal on a daily basis such as the things you mentioned in your post. I liked that Squeeze asked about PTSD. MN started to get a grasp on this subject and are trying some things to help with this issue. Right now they have a class called Fatigue to Fulfillment in Corrections. This class talks about the stress we as COs deal with on a daily basis. What I liked about this class is that it opened our eyes to stress we did not even know we were taking on. We go to work, we do our job with good days and bad days, we go home and we do what we can for our families. What is not shown is how we deal with our stress and many have become statistics of alcohol/substance abuse, divorce, and anger issues. Most military families will tell you that the spouse of the military members have to explain that their children are not troops and should not be treated as such. I heard the same thing from the corrections families except the saying is, “our children are not offenders”. There has also been a rise in suicides of correctional staff. PTSD is an issue that is more common than one would think. I would like to learn more about the corrections in Canada. I hope we can keep in touch!

Squeeze,

To answer your questions:

1) There is a big emphasis on the rights of incarcerated individuals in Canada. They are all given a book, upon entry, that explains the expectations of the facility they will be housed in, and also what their legal rights are. There are offices that manage complaints dealing with infringements of those rights, and also recommend policy changes that help further meet the rights of inmates. Since there is a unique population where I live (First Nations), there are also political and cultural factions set up to help administrate the unique aspects of the rights of indigenous peoples.

2) In general, I think the COs in the facility where I work are happy. We’re well-paid, have a lot of support to help with the occasional disruptions that can happen in our field, and have excellent support from our managerial staff.

3) I don’t really know what to say about the rate of PTSD amongst Canadian CO’s. It makes sense, however, given the nature of the work, and the fact that there is also significant psycho-physiological stressors that come with erratic scheduling, constant fight-or-flight awareness, and actual incidents of physical interventions. Working as a CO is a highly stressful job on the best of days and, even though I think my experience is somewhat padded from the experience of, say, federal COs (in the big prisons further south of me), what I do experience is enough to drive me to seek out stress releases (e.g., working out, long quiet drives alone, movies, and the occasional drink with my wife).

What are things like where you’re at?

Alright. I was Remaxx, but for whatever reason could not login again after my initial post. Not sure what happened, so I created a new account.

Squeeze: Thank you for the welcome!

Irish Assassin: Thank you, too. :D

Nice to have you on Remaxx, glad to hear from the great north, not too far from my homestate WASH. Would like to hear how your country does the jail/prison thing. How are your criminal’s rights respected when incarcerated? How’s the life of a Canadian C/O in your facility? i read a study recently where the PHDs claimed 31% of Canadian C/O’s have some level of PTSD. What is your take on that?

Welcome to Thunderdome! ……………………….. Nah it’s not that bad. Look out for the giant piles of troll crap laying around and welcome to the circus.

Hey there!

CO from Canada. Yukon Territory, to be exact. Enjoying the site very much, and looking forward to learning from everyone participating.

Cheers!
Remaxx