From medical professionals who were on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic to firefighters rescuing victims of the Maui wildfires, first responders are often hailed as heroes.
Reviewed by Megan Craig, M.Sc.Aug 31 2023 But many of them experience the public's elevated perceptions of them as a form of dehumanization, which can lead to burnout, according to a new study in the Journal of Employment Counseling, a journal of the American Counseling Association.
Dehumanization is defined as the denial of some aspect of an individual's or group's humanity. In many cases, it implies a person is less than human -; an attitude that can be applied to certain types of first responders such as police. But it can also describe a group with superhuman traits, said Kari M. Mika-Lude, PhD, lead author on the study and a counselor educator at Marshall University in West Virginia.
Surprisingly, the first responders who felt dehumanized were most likely to experience burnout regardless of the time spent in the profession. Firefighters experienced far less burnout than the other professionals, which may stem from the comparatively positive stereotypes that people attribute to them, the researchers reported.
"Years later, with some encouragement, he finally agreed to pursue treatment and was able to find solace," she said. "Over time, he was able to reenter the first responder workforce as a full-time EMT, and together we have advocated with first-responder organizations across West Virginia to develop inclusive policies and protocols that destigmatize mental health concerns, humanize the workforce, promote help-seeking and cultivate trauma-sensitive workplaces.
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