Employee Focus and Work/Life Balance in the Aftermath of September 11th

1. Employee Focus and Work/Life Balance in the Aftermath of September 11th Sharon Ryan Montgomery, Psy.D.

2. Prior to September 11th • Prior to 9/11 people were expressing significant stress related to the pressures of balancing demands of their multiple roles in life.

3. The Out of Control Syndrome • Causes: • Two income families: 70% of women with children ages 6-17 in the workforce. • High Divorce Rate: 50% • Increased Expectations: Quality of Life • Media

4. Causes Continued • Communication Technology • Increased Standard of Living • Inflation: $250,000 – $300,000 per child to 18 years of age. • Fewer Support Systems: mobility factor

5. Impact • Physical and emotional exhaustion and fatigue • Depletion Superficiality: going through motions of life; No quality • Time Management problems • Physical and emotional problems

6. Impact Continued • Disconnection/Alienation • Sexual Dysfunction: DINS • Priority/Role Conflicts • Faking-it Syndrome • Parenting by Guilt

7. Cumulative Effect • The Stress Scale/Stress of Adjusting to Change

8. Personality Types that Stress Career/Family Balance • Perfectionistic/OCD • Controllers • Depressive • High Anxiety/Worriers • Guilt Driven • Passive/Dependent, Non-Assertive • Type A – Personality/Over Extenders • Histrionic/Drama Queens • Attention Deficit Disorder

9. Psychological Impact of 9/11 and the Recessed Economy • Unique Trauma: • Ambiguity of the feared object (enemy) • Lack of closure • Ongoing threats: terrorism, biochemical attacks

10. Psychological Impact of 9/11 and the Recessed Economy • Response to trauma is individualized. • In part response is determined by: • Intensity and reach of the trauma • Pre-morbid personality and temperment • Prior emotional/psychological problems and stressors • History of prior losses, traumas, etc. – Overload Phenomena • Existing support-systems

11. Psychological Impact of 9/11 and the Recessed Economy • Immediate Reaction vs. Slow Simmer Effect

12. Normal Range of Responses to 9/11 – Still in Healing Stage • Feelings of vulnerability and insecurity: “un-easy life” • Anxiety: myriad of generalized and specific fears (flying, mail, etc.) • Control Issues: displaced • Cognitive Disturbances: focus, concentration, etc. • Psychosomatic Complaints • Depression and Grieving

13. Normal Range of Responses to 9/11 – Still in Healing Stage • Insomnia • Alterations in Priorities – Life Style Changes • Increased emphasis on family, friends and people connections. • Better balance of work vs. family & leisure time. • Increased desire for flexibility: job sharing, telecommuting, less travel. • Philosophical Shifts: no dress rehearsal to anarchy responses

14. Suggested Treatments • Unstigmatized individual counseling • In-company educational programs and support groups • Homogeneous very effective for these types of reactions • Alternative stress reduction interventions (i.e. yoga, meditation, etc.)

15. Suggested Treatments • Emotional Responses: indicating need for referral for professional intervention. • EAP • Counseling • Support groups

16. Differential Diagnosis – Trauma Related Disturbances and Their Symptoms • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – exposure to actual or perceived threat of death or injury.

17. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder • Traumatic event is re-experienced: • Intrusive thoughts or memories • Nightmares/bad dreams • Flashbacks • Cue experiences (Psychological and Physiological)

18. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder • Avoidant Responses: • Of feelings, thoughts, or conversation associated with trauma • Psychic numbing and detachment • Poor recall of specifics

19. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder • Hyper-arousal Responses: • Insomnia • Irritability • Concentration problems • Hyper-vigilance • Startle reaction

20. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder • Dissociative Responses: • Depersonalization or derealization • Fugue states • “Spacing out” or cognitive disengagement • Trance states • Amnesia or missing time • Identity alteration or confusion

21. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder • Somatic Disturbances: • Conversion reactions (I.e. paralysis, anesthesia, blindness, and deafeness) • Somatization • Psychogenic pain (I.e. pelvic pain, chronic pain)

22. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder • Sexual Disturbance: • Sexual Distress (including sexual dysfunction) • Sexual fears and conflicts

23. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder • Trauma-Related Cogntive Disturbance: • Low self-esteem • Helplessness • Hopelessness • Overvalued ideas regarding the level of danger in the environment • Idealization of perpetrators

24. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder • Tension-Reduction Activities (Briere, 1992a): • Self-mutiliation • Binging-purging • Dysfunctional sexual behavior (including sex “addiction”) • Compulsive stealing • Impulsive violent behavior

25. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder • Transient Post Traumatic Psychotic Reactions: • Stress-induced cognitive slippage, loosened associations • Stress-induced hallucinations (often trauma congruent) • Stress-induced delusions (often trauma congruent – especially paranoia)

26. Suggestions for HR Managers • Keeping people busy and getting them back to work is important because it keeps their minds off of current events. • Urge employees to come to work and get back into their routine wherever possible.

27. Suggestions for HR Managers • Educate managers about the possible anxiety problems and employee concerns. • Suggest tools or approaches they should use. • Urge managers to talk directly to their employees about these issues and respond rapidly to their requests.

28. Suggestions for HR Managers • Designate an HR person to be the primary contact for issues related the trauma. • Provide onsite or telephone “unstigmatized” counseling on individual and group basis. • Add information to your website which covers issues related to this event.

29. Suggestions for HR Managers • If individual workers are clearly being disruptive or disturbed (because of their anxiety) refer them to the appropriate counseling resource. • Contact your employees in international locations that may be at risk for terrorism or retaliation. Ask them what they need and respond rapidly to the requests.

30. Suggestions for HR Managers • Encourage employees who see harassment (of employees perceived to be from certain religious and ethnic groups) to report it immediately. • Remind employees of the penalties for harassment. • Assign an HR professional to handle these cases and identify any employees that may be “at risk” of violence or harassment.

31. Suggestions for HR Managers • Allow or even encourage workers to take time off to work for charities or to give blood, in order to meet their need to “do something” to help. • Be more flexible in requests for using sick leave and vacation. • Allow workers time to call friends and relatives to talk out their concerns.

32. Suggestions for HR Managers • Allow stressed workers to work at home or use sick days until their anxieties subside. • Allow workers to postpone or cancel business trips that require commercial flights if they are expressing significant fears.

33. Suggestions for HR Managers • Involve workers (or union) in the process of alleviating anxiety in order to lessen their fears and to get their “ownership” of the problem. • Tell employees that you will keep them informed about any events through e-mails or the loudspeaker, so they have no need to constantly listen to the “news”