5 Simple Self-Care Tips for Emergency Dispatchers

If you’re an emergency dispatcher, you might be struggling with your mental health. No matter your specific job title, you face difficult situations at work every day, and you often see people at their lowest moments. You might feel like it’s impossible to improve your mental health in this line of work, but self-care can be helpful. Here are a few simple, budget-friendly self-care tips from Armor Up that you can incorporate into your lifestyle.

Keep Your Home Tidy

Keeping your home relatively organized might seem like it’s easier said than done if you’re working odd, irregular hours as an emergency dispatcher. But coming home to a clean house can definitely decrease your stress levels. When you know that you’ll have some downtime, block off a couple of hours to start decluttering to create a healthier, happy home environment. You can also include a daily, quick tidy-up routine in your schedule that you can complete in the morning or evening, regardless of when you work.

Write in a Journal

You might feel like your friends in other fields simply don’t understand what you go through at work. To get your feelings out and process your thoughts, you could try journaling. Talk Space states that writing in a journal can help you tackle negative self-talk and beliefs, as well as simply give you a space to be creative.

Spend Time With Your Pets

If you have the time and resources to get a pet, it can greatly benefit your mental health — in fact, PsychCentral states that having a pet can help you feel less lonely and reduce feelings of depression and anxiety. Even if you don’t have pets, spending time with your loved ones’ pets can have the same effect! You may want to accompany a friend with a dog while they go on walks, pet sit for a neighbor, or cuddle with your parents’ cat when you go to visit them.

If you have a pet that enjoys walks, use a walk score map to find the best places to walk near you. Not only will you enjoy the time spent with your pet, the exercise from walking will help you feel better mentally and physically, too.

Regulate Negative Emotions

Many people in high-stress occupations, like emergency dispatchers, small business owners, and others, struggle to cope with negative emotions influenced by their work. This can harm your ability to communicate well with others, making it harder to do your job and foster healthy relationships outside of work. You can try making some lifestyle changes to boost your mood, like working out a more consistent sleep schedule, eating a nutritious diet, and exercising more often.

To learn how to better manage your negative emotions while working at a challenging and unpredictable job, you might want to work with a mentor, coach, or therapist. You can choose an online therapist to save money and time. Your insurance may even help pay for your therapy; check out your options on the ACA healthcare exchange if you need new insurance.

Watch Your Media Diet

If you’re an emergency dispatcher, you’ve probably witnessed the aftermath of traumatic events on the job many times over. You don’t need to keep exposing yourself to upsetting things outside of work. Try to cut negative news out of your media diet for the sake of your mental health. When you’re tired after a shift, you might be tempted to scroll through social media or turn on the news. Consider reaching for a book instead, or even watching a comedy series to lift your spirits.

Being an emergency dispatcher is not an easy line of work. On a daily basis, you might be holding other people’s lives in your hands, and you know that there is a lot of pressure riding on your every move. But you do not need to put all of your own needs on the backburner if you pursue this path. With these tips, you’ll be able to cater to yourself, too.

For resources for trauma-informed prevention, training, and education for first responders, visit Armor Up today! 

 If you, someone you love or someone you know needs help, call: