Unpredictability: Anxiety
Topics: Family
Anxiety
When a person experiences anxiety, it can feel like nervousness or fear. Anxiety involves anticipating some kind of danger or negative event, either real or imagined. Anxiety can lead to physical reactions like an increased heart rate, shallow breathing, and/or muscle tension. It is an emotion that can be experienced both in the moment and over longer periods of time. In the short-term, anxiety can alert you to react to a perceived threat. When anxiety endures, it can develop into a clinical condition.
If you are experiencing significant worry or anxiety that interferes with your day-to-day life (e.g., work, relationships, sleep, or other important parts of your life), it is recommended that you consult your health care provider.
Effects of unpredictability of PSP work on PSP families
Activity: Identifying aspects that can shape PSP family anxiety
Please attempt this activity first, then read about the topic. Drag from A all that you think contributes to PSP family anxiety and drop in B.
Understanding the effects of unpredictability
Please click on each information icon on the pie to learn about the effects of unpredictability of PSP work on PSP families.
What is catastrophic thinking?
- When we don’t have all the information about something, we can fill in the blanks. When we fill in the blanks with worst-case-scenario possibilities, we experience catastrophic thinking.
- The unpredictability of PSP life can lead to anxiety and anxiety can easily lead to catastrophic thinking. For example, if a PSP is late coming home because they are filling in paperwork, anxiety could lead a family member to think that their PSP is hurt or dead.
- While it is completely normal for PSP family members to have these fleeting thoughts, what is important is that they have ways to work through them. For practical suggestions on how to reframe catastrophic thoughts, please visit: https://www.pspnet.ca/en/for-families-of-psp/family-and-couples-resource-hub.
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References for this page (click to expand)
American Psychological Association. (2022). APA Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association. Retrieved July 18, 2022, from https://dictionary.apa.org/
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Landers, A. L., Dimitropoulos, G., Mendenhall, T. J., Kennedy, A., & Zemanek, L. (2020). Backing the blue: Trauma in law enforcement spouses and couples. Family Relations, 69(2), 308-319. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12393
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