Since I have been with CSC, CISM(Critical Incident Stress Management) is generally offered after every institutional emergency. I count myself as lucky to have sought treatment, and approved for compensation, but this different headspace requires constant work and is not something that can be put on "auto pilot" once things get better. It can be a horrible state of mind that you don't even notice digressing into unless you are on top of things. Last year at this time, I looked down my hallway and considered to myself that it would be easier to kill myself than to sweep the floor. There are many differences in the regions and institutions however, but my experience has been a result of a fundamental breakdown of middle management doing their jobs half ass as a result of overwhelming duties from cutbacks, and annexing all minimums to closest medium or max , and therefore, overdelegation down to the line staff. IE: how am I supposed to monitoring my PTZ's to keep an eye on staff conducting outside rounds when a manager comes in and delegates to me roster management, because he got delegated some bs from above him. Back when I started in BC Provincial, we policed ourselves, we had a proud/confident work ethic and a solid, but also dynamic sense of cohesion. When Campbell's cuts hit in early 2000's, shit hit the fan in BC Corrections. The max that I worked at was completly raped of staff and shit was going down 3-4-5 times a day. That being said, back then, we policed ourselves responsibly, and therefore (mostly) without fear of repercussions; these days, if you were to council a staff in such a fashion that would clearly and quickly start a harassment complaint from some young over privileged 18 year old "prince of persia" rookie that ends up getting fired in less than two years for selling drugs or smokes to inmates. There are also a lot of mental issues out there, but for various dormant mental issues, in the face of conflict, the previously dormant mental issues have a strong potential to exacerbate quickly. If that would be the case, then someone picked the wrong job to do. Our REAL Front Line Staff need to stand up for themselves with professional confidence. If you get nervous easily; dont be a guard; if you're Robocop, stay at Costco until RCMP picks you up. If you are concerned about being harassed, remember what you applied for,then put on your big girl/boy panties and fuck off. As a front line officer, you need to be able to be a councillor and a soldier. It is these few officers that are mostly pulled off a post, and prepare for battle mode whereas most other staff on site would almost certainly fuck up somehow while on video. Often, the diligent staff get overused because of a general dwindling of staff/guidance/ moral/motivation. These people that see horrible things over the course of their duties day after day can be affected by a viscous life altering behavior caused by drastic mood changes/nightmares/parasomnia/concious-unconscious hyper vigilance/dulling of all emotions except for anger and despair. I'm tired, goodnight. R.I.P to the ones we have lost, and lets hope some folks get the help they need. Often times, PTSD sufferers have a gradually diminished sense of self-preservation, so they benefit from a check in from some friends, and can be reminded that they might be spiraling.