…how to stay healthy at work 1 Developed by Robyn Bradey.

Building Resilience

…how to stay healthy at work

1

Developed by Robyn Bradey

Understanding Our Brains

Stress activates our fear centreThis turns down our immune systemOperates from our right emotional

brainSidelines our executive functionAnd triggers fight or flight

2Building Resilience – Robyn Bradey - August 2012

This happens to Zebras too...

But their stress response only lasts about 3 minutes, which is the time it takes to run away from a lion!

Once the lion catches a fellow zebra or they escape, the zebras stress response is quickly turned off.

Turning the immune system and soothing mechanisms back on.


But in humans...

The fear response can stay on for hours, days, weeks, months or even years because we ruminate.

We analyse what went wrongGo over and over it in our minds And worry about what will happen

next.


So

This effectively means we keep re-traumatising ourselves by our thoughts and worries long after the event and even before it!!

All this time our immune system is compromised, and trauma chemicals are chugging around our brains and bodies.

From Robert Sapolsky, 1994 5Building Resilience – Robyn Bradey - August 2012

The result is...

SicknessFatigueSleep disturbanceWeight loss or gainGeneralised anxietyPoor decision makingRelationship issues


Continued

Memory problemsOver reactionsAvoidanceLoss of empathy and intuition Increased stressful situations arising

from poor judgementCynicism

7Building Resilience – Robyn Bradey -– August 2012

Continued

A feeling of futilityDisparaging workmates, clients and

othersBlame and shameLoss of confidence.


Chapter 2When You Smile, The World Smiles With You

No Laughing Matter

In 1962 in Tanzania an epidemic of laughing spread through many villages resulting in the closing of several schoolsThis was a “mass psychogenic illness” – also known as “epidemic hysteria” and was traced to three teenage girls

Photo by Casey Lehman Photo by Federia Olivieri Photo by k-girl, Flikr

No Laughing Matter

“Emotional Stampedes” are common. Did you ever feel sick after a friend complained of a stomach ache from the dinner you both ate?

Photo by Angelo Juan Ramos Photo from Nokes, Flikr

The Importance of Emotions

Emotions coordinate group activity by:

• Communicating information

• Facilitating interpersonal bonds

• Synchronizing behavior

• Preceded language as a form of communicationExample: mother-infant pair

bonding

Photo by Rebeka Ireland

Stop Mimicking Me!

Emotional Contagion spreads for two reasons:1. We are biologically hardwired to outwardly mimic

others2. We benefit from adopting the inward state of othersFacial Feedback Theory: people imitate others’ facial expressions and come to feel as they do (the path of signals is from the muscles of the face to the brain)

Mirror Neuron: one system in the human brain possibly responsible for the “catching of emotions”

Photo by Jennifer Morton

Emotional Contagion• Most prevalent in networks with high transitivity • Physical Proximity and face-to-face interactions are

important (Facial Feedback Theory)• Women are affected in MPI epidemics more often

• more inclined to discuss symptoms• better sense of smell (smell and emotion are both regulated by the orbitofrontal cortex of the brain)

Photos by Gontzal Garcia del Cano and Diego Cupolo

Family Feelings

Experiment using beepers to record and track the emotional states of family members• The strongest path was from daughters to parents• Parents had little affect on daughters• Fathers had a significant affect on wives and sons

What this means…when a father returns grumpy from work the whole household

soon becomes miserable

Photos by Mike Carroll and Squiddles, Flikr

If You Wanna Be Happy

• Happy and unhappy people cluster among themselves

• Unhappy people are on periphery of the network

Our friends and their friends and their friends affect our happiness! (Three Degrees of Influence Rule)

Photo by Annika Bischof


• A person is 15% more likely to be happy if directly connected to a happy person (1 degree)

• At 2 degrees 10% more likely to be happy• At 3 degrees 6% more likely to be happy• Each unhappy friend deceases the likelihood of happiness 7%


An increase of $10,000 of income per year yields only a 2% increase chance in happiness. Compare that to a 15% chance from a happy friend and a 6-10% from someone you may have never met, but to whom you are indirectly tied!

Photo by Andy Perkins Photo by Minoria Hinds

Happiness, It’s in the Genes

We have a “set point” for personal happiness strongly influenced by our genes

Long term happiness is affected by:• 50% genes• 10% circumstance (i.e. quality

of life)• 40% attitude (what you think

and do)

Photo by Emily Faulk

Photo by Duncan Hull

Alone in the Crowd

Loneliness is a discrepancy between desire for connection and actual connections--spreads according to the three degrees rule

Each extra friend reduces the frequency of loneliness by 2 days per year (the average person feels lonely 48 days per year)

Photo by Tom Woodward

Basic Human Instincts

Loss aversionEmotion before reasonFirst impressions to classifyGossipConfidence before realismEmpathy and mind readingContest & displayCommunityHierarchy & status

Source: Andrew O’Keefe, 2011, Hardwired Humans22Building Resilience – Robyn Bradey -– August 2012

First Impressions to classify

….. leading to the importance of the first 7 words which must be:

Specific Plain Truthful Single concept Emotional Without jargon Contain the future narrative


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What is a “team”?

... a set of interpersonal relationships structured to achieve established goals.

.... a group of people ... with a common

purpose (which is understood by all members) who play assigned roles... using

their individual skills and talents to best advantage ... to accentuate the strengths

and minimise the weaknesses, and achieve the common goal.

Shields, In the Tiger’s Mouth

Does this definition fit your workplace?

Building Resilience – Robyn Bradey - Legal Aid NSW – August 2012

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Qualities of a well functioning work group

Belonging and valuing Being clear about the task Creating safety Listening and consulting Respecting diversity and

uniqueness Being aware of oppression and

discrimination Being committed to conflict

resolution Encouraging and supporting

leadershipBuilding Resilience – Robyn Bradey - Legal Aid NSW – August 2012

Continued…

Training and development skills Sharing visions and encouraging

each other's dreams Making room for fun and humour

26Building Resilience – Robyn Bradey - Legal Aid NSW – August 2012

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What went wrong.... & why?

communication

planning

listening

personality

clarity of roles & tasks

supervision

agenda

Stress

Stress

bullying


28

What is resilience ?

…..buoyancy….

…..an ability to cope with stress and adversity, ….to recover quickly from stressful situations,

illness, change, or misfortune


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Strengthening your Resilience

Interpersonal competence

Personal vision Flexible

Proactive

Organised

Problem solver

Socially connected

Self-assurance

How do you rate yourself in these areas?Building Resilience – Robyn Bradey - Legal Aid NSW – August 2012

Vicarious Trauma

This happens when our fear centre is activated by what has happened to another person.

One of the executive functions that we have that zebras don’t, is empathy.

The capacity to imagine what it must be like for the other triggers fear in us.

Ironically if this happens our executive function in the cortex is compromised and fear takes over.


If our work brings us into the suffering of others..

Then we are triggering into a fear response on a daily basis

The better our empathy, the more likely this is

This has serious implications for both our work practices and our health.

This kind of stress accumulatesSo that means experienced staff are

more at risk of this31Building Resilience – Robyn Bradey - August 2012

The workplace can help by...

Allowing opportunities for staff to connect with “big picture” activities such as:

Writing policyLobbying government on behalf of

client groupBeing on inter-agency working

partiesChanging the outcomes for the client

group as a whole (Charles Figley, 1995)


Workplace Health & Safety measures

Employers need to recognise the condition and validate it

Provide a safe working environmentProvide orientation and ongoing

trainingProvide supervision and mentoringRotation of dutiesRegular leave

33Building Resilience – Robyn Bradey -August 2012

WHS Continued..

Tools to do the jobRespect in the workplace (Including

dealing decisively with bullying and harassment)

Performance appraisalPeer review


WHS Continued...

The employer should provide access to EAP services.

Defusing and debriefing after stressful incidents

Follow –up counselling for those who need it.


You can help yourself by...

ExercisingMeditating (or using a relaxation

technique)YogaAromatherapyStretchingSweatingEating well


HolidaysTraining and professional

development A sense of humourExit PlanQuit!

Building Resilience – Robyn BradeyAugust 2012 37

…how to stay healthy at work 1 Developed by Robyn Bradey.

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Transcript of …how to stay healthy at work 1 Developed by Robyn Bradey.