‘The whole world is falling apart. We’ll never get our act together,'” says Stoltz.
Chicago psychotherapist Boris Thomas, M.S.W., J.D., suggests that in overcoming a tragedy, it’s important to create a support system and then use it. It was of utmost importance in Jackson’s case, because the police department was not fully equipped to aid in his mental recovery.
Before his death, Jackson’s father would wait up for him to talk about the day’s occurrences. “From him making me come home and talk about things that were going on, it gave me a pattern to follow-to always be able to talk about it,” he says. For the 10 months he was out of work, Jackson relied on interaction with his friends, girlfriend, other officers, and his family-especially his mother-as his support system.
“Even picking up the phone and talking to a colleague or friend can help you diffuse some stress,” says Thomas. “It seems obvious, but many of us bottle up our frustrations.”
If you have been injured at work, check with your company’s employment assistant program about working with occupational therapists who specialize in worksite rehabilitation, a process where the patient is treated in the pre-injury work environment. Evaluations take into account physical and emotional progress.
The Lead on Adversity
Paul Stoltz, author of Adversity Quotient @ Work, notes that companies are beginning to require that their employees go through adversity training. “It’s used for a lot of reasons,” he offers. “Everything is more complex, more demanding, more uncertain, and faster. It’s equipping people to be able to perform more optimally in highly demanding circumstances.”
From his research on adversity, Stoltz has developed the LEAD sequence as a guideline to develop a capacity for handling the stresses of potential problems:
Listen. Pay attention to your responses to adversity and listen for where you may
be susceptible to areas of weakness.
Establish accountability. Given the whole situation, what’s the one thing you most care about? And where can you step up to have the most immediate and positive impact?
Analyze the evidence. Stoltz says that low AQ responses to adversity are all based on assumptions stated or perceived as facts. He suggests asking yourself, “What evidence is there that any of the things I’m worried about has to become reality?” The answer is always “None.”
Do something. Develop a plan of action. What can you specifically do to minimize the likelihood of a problem developing? What can you specifically do to increase the likelihood of positive things happening? Stoltz suggests listing every possible action and then deciding which ones you can commit to doing first and assigning dates to them. That gives you a personal action plan for demonstrating immediate resilience in the face of adversity.