Upon reading the case study of Gene and his unfortunate traumatic event, it is evident that he has many symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. When confronted with gun calls his emotions intruded on his capability with handling the situation. He became extremely paranoid and had a sense of shortened future thru the fear that arose during the situation. His arousal symptoms were becoming a problem at the work place due to his increasing irritation and anger toward his supervisors, fortunately they recommended him to a psychologist. The most prevalent of his symptoms were the ones that physically showed. Gene began to experience problems urinating by using the bathroom five times a day, which increased to fifteen times per day in the future. He also had constant intestinal pain located in the left side of his colon called hyper motility. Unfortunately this pain in the colon escalated to “ doubling over” and gave him cold sweats, which in turn gave him diarrhea. There is a simple reason why Gene’s post traumatic stress disorder symptoms become worse over time. The reason is that he did not talk about his feelings or the situation. Gene kept his feelings bottle up over the years and did not come to a sense of completion which he so badly needed. If Gene had matched up with an officer who had gone through the similar circumstances he would of been able easily understood what was happening to his emotions and identify what he had to work on to male his life better. Even though Gene’s lieutenant sent him to psychologist, it had no effect solving his problems. The psychologist just determined that he had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Aside from sending Gene to a psychologist, his department had let him down. There was a lack of support toward Gene from his department and they had not taken every precaution for him to attempt to recover from his post traumatic stress.
As described in Conflict Management: Skills for Law Enforcement, Genes Police service did not subscribe him to good counseling personnel. Yes Gene did receive sessions with a psychologist but the sessions only identified that he had post traumatic stress disorder. There was no indication that Gene received any training for stress reduction, such as deep breathing relaxation techniques, or police management eliminate any myth that an officer receiving counseling was weak. The service also did not provide Gene with a peer support program. If Gene had the opportunity to interact with peers he would of been directed to the proper professional counseling service and talked about his problems. There are many way Gene’s case could of been handled different. Police management could of taken extra measures and incorporated the peer counseling program and encouraged Gene to talk amongst his peers, if not to an officer whom he trusts. The service should of also ensured that Genes was receiving adequate training for managing and reducing stress. These techniques will able Gene to cope with his stress and assist him in performing optimally in his job. If Gene and his department were to handle his unfortunate turn of event properly his life and career may have still been in policing. Since many of the incidences that trigger fear with in Gene compromise his performance in regular policing duties, so at the least he would of been comfortable in an administration position where he did not have to encounter such violence and still acquire his proper retirement and pension plan from the city.