1. Medical
Whistleblower
Loved Ones—most
affected #4
James Russell Lowell
The entire family and all those close to the Medi-
cal Whistleblower are affected when a Medical Too Close for Comfort—
Whistleblower faces retaliation. Under stress it
can become very difficult to maintain boundaries “ Truth forever on the scaffold
between work and family, and those closest to the
Whistleblower may suffer the effects of stress Impact on Intimate
caused by the working environment. With Whistle-
blower Retaliation in particular, the spouse and Wrong forever on the throne Relationships
the children may themselves be targeted in at-
tempts to undermine the Whistleblower. A better
understanding of stress and the effects it can have
on a person can help to those closest to the Medi-
Yet the scaffold sways the
cal Whistleblower deal with the signs of stress.
Those supporting the Whistleblower need to know future
how to respond to the retaliation. Necessary ac-
tion can be taken sooner rather than later to pro-
tect the Whistleblower from additional psycho-
logical violence in the workplace and before last- And behind the dim unknown
ing emotional damage results. It is important to
recognize that in most cases harassment and bully-
ing can only be stopped by the intervention of
someone from outside the situation who has the
Standeth God within the
power to take sanctions against the perpetrator.
Reconciliation attempts usually do more harm than
good, empowering the perpetrator and disem-
Shadow
powering the person being targeted.
Keeping watch above his own”
Medical Whistleblower
Supporting the Emotional
P.O. Box C Health of All Whistleblowers
Lawrence, KS 66044 and their Friends, Supporters
and Families.
Phone: 360-809-3058 Tel: 360-809-3056
Fax: None
E-mail:
MedicalWhistleblower@gmail.com

2. Supportive Personal Relationships are essential to Healing
People with PTSD may experience a variety of so- Changing Jobs their confidentiality could be compromised, and this
matic and psychological complaints, including sleep concern is not entirely groundless. Hostile psychiatric
disturbance, outbursts of anger, or an exaggerated For the sake of their health, Medical Whistleblow- evaluations used to remove the targeted Whistle-
startle response. (They jump at sudden noises or ers may need to move as soon as possible to a new blower from his/her employment are commonplace.
movements). A characteristic of PTSD is the remem- position away from the stress, but often discover So is a Fitness for Duty examination that removes the
bering of the trauma, and sometimes actually reliving that they were being hindered by fabricated alle- Whistleblower’s badge or security
the events in the mind. Medical Whistleblowers have gations in their professional references. Often in an clearance. Medical Peer Review
recurrent recollections of the event, distressing effort to find safety and security in their lives, practices are aimed at removing the
dreams about what happened, or some other form of Medical Whistleblowers move from one job to the medical license from the Medical
psychological rehashing of the event. As a result, the next, each step with lower pay, longer hours and Whistleblower not at assisting them in
Whistleblower avoids all situations that might be a less benefits. This causes significant financial stress Telling Truth to Power. Referring
reminder of the trauma, and tends to react with sig- on the family and can strain personal friendships stressed people for work-based coun-
nificant anxiety whenever there is a reminder of the and religious and social ties. The seling helps perpetuate the myth that
event. These precipitating events are called Triggers. stressed person struggles even it is the person who is the problem,
These violent recollections can have a serious impact harder to prove they can cope. rather than the working environment. In addition,
on a person's feelings, and the physiological reac- But this is a recipe for disaster, as where workplace bullying and whistleblower retalia-
tions to these feelings, become patterns of anticipa- almost inevitably the person will tion is involved, and/or the whistleblower’s continued
tion, which in turn create more maladaptive feelings. suffer further problems with re- employment is under question, there can be boundary
This mutual interaction between anticipation and fear taliation which may eventually problems. Where the stress has been caused by
promotes what has sometimes been described as force them to resign or retire. workplace harassment and bullying, it also allows the
“isolation and paralysis of the mind.” Social relation- perpetrators to switch the focus of attention away
ships often suffer, as the person becomes more with- from their own abusive behavior by inferring, usually
drawn and detached. There is a dehumanising aspect
Counseling under the guise of sympathy and support, that the
of the trauma that creates a sense of not being con- Counseling will achieve little if the cause of the person they are targeting is mentally ill, and that it is
nected to humanity and the human race and a lack stress is not addressed. Counseling itself is a stress- their "mental illness" which is responsible for the cur-
of the ability to keep an empathic connection. There ful process and as such is generally contra- rent problems within the workplace. The whistle-
is often a profound lack of trust, isolation from soci- indicated for people who are already suffering blower may feel safer talking to someone who is fur-
ety, emotional numbing and a fear of feeling– called from any significant stress. General counselors are ther removed from their situation. A better option
anhedonia. This fear of feeling or emotional dis- often trained largely in dealing with people's en- would be to tackle the actual problems in the working
tance is very hard on intimate relationships and many dogenous or intra-psychic problems (those which environment. A responsible employer should look to
Medical Whistleblowers find themselves loosing their come from within), and may be highly skilled in see what changes can be made in the working envi-
loved ones right when they need them most. To pro- doing so. However, they may have less training or ronment, and to reduce the expectations on the
mote healing and to empower the Medical Whistle- experience in dealing with employment-related stressed person.
blower, loving and understanding colleagues, concerns such as stress and/or workplace bullying,
friends, partners, and family are necessary to coun- where the source of the difficulty is external. Mis-
teract the dehumanizing effects of the trauma. So- placed or misguided counseling, however well- Medical Whistleblower
cial networks need to be established to provide com- intentioned, can do serious damage to stressed and P.O. Box C
fort and support to family mem- bullied people by feeding and reinforcing their Lawrence, KS 66044
bers and the close personal net- own feelings of failure and self-blame, challenging
work of the Medical Whistle- their reality, and pushing them further into stress Phone: 360-809-3058
blower. breakdown. Employees may feel concerned that Fax: None
E-mail: MedicalWhistleblower@gmail.com