4 ms·

Would police officers ruminate about mistakes they may have made during a shift? My suspicion is 'generally not', and if that's true, maybe they should? But p

Would police officers ruminate about mistakes they may have made during a shift? My suspicion is 'generally not', and if that's true, maybe they should? But police - and most physicians, etc - don't have a WFH option. More and more tech folks working from home don't have an automatic 'mode switch' when you leave and come back. I know it's been talked about to death, but some separation between 'non-work life' and 'work life' is easier when there's a physical separation.

weatherlite 4y ago
> Would police officers ruminate about mistakes they may have made during a shift? Hmm why wouldn't they, they seem to be made of the same DNA as you and me. They want to make good impression on their boss, colleagues etc (the politics and who gets ahead bullshit seems to be very high in their field) and are also exposed to very high stress situations - solving murder cases or patrolling the streets doesn't sound too chill to me. Most cop shows depict them as a bunch of alcoholics with failed marriages ... I don't know how accurate that is but it wouldn't surprise me.
- mgkimsal 4y ago
  There may be a bigger pressure to 'switch off'? dunno - I'm not a police officer. But there is a different work environment, and being 'at home'... you can replay issues in your head, but to what end? You can't go back and make any changes, compared to dev/code work, where you can be thinking about something and ... just go make a change (iow, 'keep working'). My neighbor was a firefighter for 20 years, and from his telling, that's what triggered his alcoholism. Drink a few to relax, later drinking to forget what you've had to witness - death/destruction/tragedy on a regular basis. I would not be at all surprised if alcoholism (or similar substance abuse) was not higher in professions like police than the regular population.

weatherlite 4y ago

> Would police officers ruminate about mistakes they may have made during a shift? Hmm why wouldn't they, they seem to be made of the same DNA as you and me. They want to make good impression on their boss, colleagues etc (the politics and who gets ahead bullshit seems to be very high in their field) and are also exposed to very high stress situations - solving murder cases or patrolling the streets doesn't sound too chill to me. Most cop shows depict them as a bunch of alcoholics with failed marriages ... I don't know how accurate that is but it wouldn't surprise me.

mgkimsal 4y ago
There may be a bigger pressure to 'switch off'? dunno - I'm not a police officer. But there is a different work environment, and being 'at home'... you can replay issues in your head, but to what end? You can't go back and make any changes, compared to dev/code work, where you can be thinking about something and ... just go make a change (iow, 'keep working'). My neighbor was a firefighter for 20 years, and from his telling, that's what triggered his alcoholism. Drink a few to relax, later drinking to forget what you've had to witness - death/destruction/tragedy on a regular basis. I would not be at all surprised if alcoholism (or similar substance abuse) was not higher in professions like police than the regular population.