“Desk Rage”: A Ripple Effect from Sept. 11
By Michelle Logsdon - January 15, 2002Employers face completely new challenges in the workplace now that the Sept. 11 attacks have taken root in people’s psyches. Some New Yorkers who witnessed the attacks have transferred to jobs in different states and many are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
In other places across the country, workers feel vulnerable in high-rise buildings. The increase in stress levels in the workplace is leading to increased incidences of “desk rage” which in the end could lead to higher workers’ compensation bills for employers.
“The way leaders cope with this new workplace reality could have lasting ramifications for careers and company futures as workers unhappy with management inaction quit or file lawsuits,” Tim Tuttle, the chief technology officer for the Marriott World Trade Center who fled the towers as they were crumbling, told USA Today. “You realize there are political and social issues that affect business, and before, you could ignore them. We'll look back years from now and see a very different set of principles people use to drive their business.”
Tuttle left New York for a new job in San Francisco, CA.
A study conducted shortly after the attacks by Integra Realty Resources showed that more than 30 percent of Americans did not want to enter high-rise buildings. The study found that incidences of “desk rage” had increased since Sept. 11. Nine percent of workers responding to the study had attacked machines or co-workers in the office and that percentage doubled for respondents in taller buildings.
Adam Mayblum, 36, was one of those people who escaped the burning buildings by running down the stairs with a wet t-shirt against his mouth. He told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was recently affected by the sound of a subway train passing the restaurant where he was eating. “The place started to rumble a little bit and that upset me,” he said. “It's not like I ran away crying, but I felt myself being a little caught off guard.”
Workers like Mayblum are candidates for workers’ compensation claims for mental stress caused at work but many others who were nowhere near the towers at the time of the attacks are also suffering mental affects but would not qualify for compensation, at least not in California.
“California law refers to actual events of employment not only a preponderance of cause,” Richard Stephens, spokesman for the California Division of Workers’ Compensation told adjustercom.com. “If somebody went berserk in your office and you got hurt that would be work-related. But if a plane crashes into a tall building, you cannot claim mental stress just because you work in a tall building too.”
Some organizations are not taking any chances with those workers who were on the front lines of the terrorist attacks. The New York Police Department has ordered all 55,000 of its employees to attend counseling sessions. The Police Foundation will pick up the tab. By making the counseling mandatory, the department removes the stigma attached to those who go to therapy.
“Everyone from a clerk at Police Headquarters to the commissioner has been affected," Pam Delaney, director of the Police Foundation, told the New York Times. “We wanted to destigmatize it so no one thinks that they are being singled out because they are having a problem, but rather to universalize it so that it is clear that it’s a problem affecting everyone.”
Mental health professionals expect the psychological ramifications of Sept. 11 to continue to surface for months, maybe even years. The National Mental Health Association (NMHA) encourages employers to be aware of the signs of emotional distress and to be patient. Watch for decreased productivity, missed deadlines, irritability, absenteeism or difficulty concentrating and making decisions.
NMHA said other ways employers can handle the current workplace environment is to provide mental health treatment resources, to reconsider leave and travel requirements, and to review emergency procedures with employees. | 
__May11th2017.gif)
.gif)