Managing the Personal Side of Crisis
| Publication year | 2002 |
| Pages | 27 |
2002, January, Pg. 27. Managing the Personal Side of Crisis
Vol. 31, No. 1, Pg. 27
The Colorado Lawyer
January 2002
Vol. 31, No. 1 [Page 27]
January 2002
Vol. 31, No. 1 [Page 27]
Features
Managing the Personal Side of Crisis
by Leslie Hilton
by Leslie Hilton
In the past few months, every lawyer in Colorado, as a
citizen of the United States, has been affected in some way
by the national crisis of September 11, 2001. Lawyers who
typically deal with client crises in their professional
practices are now dealing with a new level of crisis as a
result of national events and must focus even more intently
on personal crisis and stress management. Without such a
focus, lawyers are at risk of suffering one or more of the
consequences of crisis-induced stress: physical and mental
health problems, staff problems, family issues, practice
errors and impairment, addiction, and financial loss. There
are proven ways for lawyers to maintain physical and mental
health and to avoid consequences of unmanaged stress in times
of crisis
This article touches briefly on some of these issues
emphasizing the nature of crisis, the emotional consequences
and stress caused by crisis, basic personal techniques for
stress management in times of crisis, and resources for
assistance. This article, however, does not attempt to
address more severe personal effects of crisis. Lawyers
experiencing serious problems should seek additional help
some resources are listed below.
Crisis and Crisis Damage
"Crisis" has been defined as "a condition or
period of instability, difficulty," and as "a
turning point for better or worse." That recent national
events have created a period of instability throughout the
United States and the world community seems obvious. The
other perspective on crisis, that of "a turning point
for better or worse," denotes that, by its nature, a
crisis creates such disruption that there is a period in time
in which "all bets are off," leaving open the
possibility that things can become either better or worse. In
fact, the Chinese character for "crisis" is formed
by the combination of the characters for "danger"
and "opportunity."
On a personal level, a crisis often creates a situation in
which things can change for better or for worse. This fact
alone contributes to a higher level of stress in times of
crisis - life as we know it has changed, and not knowing what
will happen as a result is cause for increased levels of
stress. While no individual can control the outcome of a
crisis completely, everyone has control over their response
to crisis by the choices they make. By being aware of primary
and secondary levels of damage, discussed below, lawyers can
be empowered to manage their own responses more effectively
and create a greater possibility of opportunity.
Experts point out that crisis causes both primary and
secondary damage. Primary damage is the direct, causal effect
of the crisis event, such as death or property damage from
plane crashes...
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