PTSD, Moral Injury, and Retirement?

Today’s blog is my conversation with Associate Minister Michael Tibollo and Dr. Margaret McKinnon.  I’m going to write less, so they can talk more.   But first, why this topic?  And why these two people?

Retirement is stressful for many people, we stew, we ruminate, and we worry.  We do all those things in amongst the “holy crap I can’t wait to call my day my own”, and the “finally, I can sleep in” thoughts.  I absolutely waffled between terror and excitement trying to decide.  Obviously “controlling my own day and sleeping in” won out.  But it was stressful deciding.  When you factor in the financial worries people can have, or their physical health concerns, it all adds up.  The decision to retire, or being forced to retire, are in and of themselves, real mental burdens.

Now consider for a moment if you will, the impact of retirement on someone already struggling with a mental illness.  The implications.  The compounding of a problem.  In the case of emergency services, what if that mental illness was caused by your job.  I’m referring to both PTSD and moral injury.  As a fire chief, I was always concerned for my team’s mental well being; and tried to offer as much as possible in the way of support.  Support that would both build resilience to avoid these problems; and in the form of professional resources should problems occur.  We have miles to go!

The American Psychiatric Association defines PTSD as:

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that may occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, war/combat, or rape or who have been threatened with death, sexual violence or serious injury.

Moral Injury Project/Syracuse University definition:

Moral injury is the damage done to one’s conscience or moral compass when that person perpetrates, witnesses, or fails to prevent acts that transgress one’s own moral beliefs, values, or ethical codes of conduct.

Can retirement help with, or exacerbate these problems?  What happens if these problems flare up after retirement?  So, I contacted the two smartest people I know on these issues and asked them to weigh in.  And they both graciously agreed.  Here’s a bit about each, before we start.

Michael Tibollo, LLB, Psy.D. Candidate

Michael Tibollo, MPP for Vaughan-Woodbridge and Ontario’s first ever Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.  Minister Tibollo is a lawyer, with 30 years of experience, prior to joining Ontario’s Legislature; and he’s currently pursuing his Doctorate in Psychology from USC.

Dr. Margaret McKinnon, Ph.D. CPsych.

Dr. Margaret McKinnon serves as the Homewood Chair in Mental Health and Trauma and as Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University.  She is also the Research Lead in Mental Health and Addictions at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and a Senior Scientist at Homewood Research Institute.  Dr. McKinnon completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of Toronto followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the internationally renowned Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Centre.  She is an elected Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association and is dually licensed as a clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist.  Dr. McKinnon is well known for her work characterizing trauma-related illness and PTSD among military members, Veterans, first responders, and survivors of childhood abuse and trauma.

So, on to the main event.

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If you have difficulty downloading the video, click here for an alternate.

I’ll leave a few links in case you are interested reading more on these topics.  My thanks for joining our conversation.  Usually a good chat leads to more questions.  So it you have any, or something you’d like to share, please leave your thoughts in the comment box.

Cheers,

Cynthia

Hamilton Spectator:  Terrifying ;flight Inspired Psychologist To Study PTSD

Firefighting in Canada, Scabs vs Scars:  The Differences Between PTSD and Other Mental Health Issues

TVO Docs:  Allan Gregg in Conversation with Lt. General Romeo Dallaire