Why Feeling Bad is Good

Emotional Acceptance: Why Feeling Bad is Good
Avoiding negative emotions seems like a good idea. It isn't.
by Noam Shpancer, Ph.D. in Insight Therapy
Published on September 8, 2010

According to recent psychological research (by David Barlow, Steven Hayes and others) one of the main causes of many psychological problems is the habit of emotional avoidance. This may seem surprising, because the attempt to avoid negative emotions appears to be a reasonable thing. After all, negative emotions don't feel good, and they are often linked in our minds to negative events that we want to avoid or forget.

Moreover, we are all familiar with the momentary relief that avoidance can provide. If the thought of speaking up upsets me, then I can make myself feel better by deciding not to speak. Indeed, avoidance is an effective solution in the short term. Long term, however, it becomes a bigger problem than whatever was being avoided in the first place. And life, if you're at all lucky, is a long term proposition.
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“In the past, they were just telling a guy to suck it up and move on”

Officer in shooting incident named
By Jessica Bruha
The Norman Transcript
May 5, 2013

NORMAN — The female officer involved in Wednesday’s shooting at Main Street and Hal Muldrow Drive was identified by fellow officers as Glenda Vassar.

Vassar repeatedly issued verbal warnings to him, but she shot him after he began to approach her in an aggressive manner armed with a small kitchen knife, eyewitnesses said.

"Earlier this year, Vassar was recognized as the first female officer to receive the Police Officer of the Year award. She has worked as a Norman officer for two-and-a-half years and was commended during the awards ceremony by Chief of Police Keith Humphrey."

During Vassar’s administrative leave, she was required, as part of the policy, to talk to a peer support responder (PSR).

The Peer Support Team was developed to help officers “defuse” or “debrief” from incidents such as officer-involved shootings, Jackson said. The team allows officers involved in critical incidents to sit down and talk to someone who has been in their shoes.

“Suicide is the No. 1 cause of death of police officers,” Jackson said. “In the past, they were just telling a guy to suck it up and move on.”

That was before many realized that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression and other conditions were affecting officers after being involved in critical incidents, he said.
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VETERANS CAN HEAL FROM PTSD BY TALKING ABOUT EXPERIENCES

VETERANS CAN HEAL FROM PTSD BY TALKING ABOUT EXPERIENCES
By R. JONATHAN TULEYA, Staff WRITER
CALN — Being the strong, silent type makes a war veteran more likely to suffer the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, psychologist Susan Rogers of the Coatesville VA Medical Center told a group of former prisoners of war Friday.

Rogers’ speech was part of the hospital’s annual Ex-POW Recognition Program. Among the former prisoners of war in the audience, nearly all served in World War II and the Korean War.

“Take the time to tell the stories” of your war experiences, Rogers said. “Be the teacher.”

Beyond helping preserve history, the psychologist said she has found that among those veterans with PTSD who speak about their time in combat, more than three-quarters experience a remission of their symptoms, which can include sleeplessness, phobias, chronic pain and cardiovascular disease.


Meanwhile, different medications have been used with various degrees of success, but she said no one has developed a pill that is a magic bullet.

Rogers has treated veterans with PTSD from every American military action from the ongoing Iraq and Afghan wars back to World War I.

She remembered the lone World

War I vet she treated who told her, “I have a little trouble remembering yesterday, but I remember being gassed in the trenches.”

Doctors do not completely understand why some soldiers suffer from PTSD and others do not. It is likely a mix of biological and cultural influences, Rogers said, but a person’s experience in the combat may be the greatest factor.

She said 15 percent to 30 percent of veterans who participated in front lines of military missions are diagnosed with the disorder.

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This is supported by every Chaplain in America. It is also supported in every police and fire department across the nation BECAUSE THEY GET TO TALK TO SOMEONE EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY GO THROUGH A TRAUMATIC EVENT~