Vicarious Trauma and Psychosocial Risk in the Workplace with Dr Naveed Sheikh

As you very correctly defining that they can be direct trauma where you are either subject to the trauma or a direct firsthand witness of a trauma, or it could be trauma that you are reading through charts or looking through pictures, or as part of your work that you have to sift through stuff.

Typical example could be a police officer who might not be out in the field, but has to prepare files for prosecution.

It's nothing to

do with directly what happened, but they are still coming across it.

So these things also impact a human being.

We are ultimately a net sum of our experiences.

And if the experiences are all driven by something that cuts against your moral fabric and how you feel the universe should be, or you expected it to be and it's not, then it's going to impact you in negative ways.

The good news story is that most vicarious trauma would not lead to a post-traumatic stress disorder.

Yeah.

but vicarious trauma would still contribute to a potential mental illness.

And depending on your previous experiences and what has happened, it can contribute to a post-traumatic stress disorder still.

Everybody who is in high intensity jobs, for example, as we were talking, police officers, prison guards, ambulance officers who are, one, directly witnessing trauma, but indirectly also hearing a lot of trauma and reading a lot of trauma, there is a cumulative effect of all of that added.

And then people who might not be in such a frontline role, but are exposed to a lot of it.

For example, psychiatrists.

We hear a lot of stories of abuse.

We hear a lot of stories of people just drawing the short straw.

and leading to a lot of difficulties in life.

And you cannot avoid your emotions being linked with theirs in some way or the other.

If your net sum of what you're going through is all about trauma, it is gonna impact you in somewhat of a negative way.

And it's very interesting that, I mean, Australia might be doing a little bit of catch up here, But in other parts of the world, for example, UK, a psychiatrist is allowed to retire 10 years earlier than other specialists.

primarily because it is recognised that they are doing some work which is not common for other doctors.

Right.

So there's a recognition of the cumulative effect of trauma, meaning they might need a break earlier in their life.

That's right.

And for more that they listen and absorb and take on and stuff as well too would be a lot.