Heroes, Victims and the Problem of Drama in Dealing with the Covid 19 Pandemic

Have you noticed that during Covid 19, we have begun to speak of our frontline health service workers as heroes? What is it to be a hero? Someone who selflessly sacrifices for others, who puts their health and wellbeing at risk for the greater good.

Without for a moment diminishing the incredible contribution of frontline health workers, I believe it is important to stop and think about the implications of this kind of thinking and the risk that this poses to not only to their health but to their families, patients and community at large.

We all like a good drama. How often have you seen the story play out where the hero rescues the victim from the persecutor? Superheros, fairy tales, romcoms, action movies, politics, clickbait and even the news are all presented in terms of drama.

At the core of drama is conflict. Creating a drama or conflict is great for gaining attention, but not so good for dealing effectively and respectfully with each other, and addressing resources and risks in the community and workplace.

It's easy to get caught in drama, and this makes it even more important to find a way to navigate back away from drama and conflict to respectful problem-solving. One model which helps us understand the dynamic of drama and conflict, and how to overcome it is Karpman's Drama Triangles.

The Drama triangle represents the roles required to perpetuate conflict. In summary, the three roles are :

1. The Victim:  Feels helpless, hopeless, powerless, ashamed, ineffective in making decisions, lacking self-awareness, and unable to take pleasure in life. 
2. The Rescuer:  The rescuer is driven to help, but keeps the Victim dependent and gives the Victim permission to fail. They rescue because when they focus on others it enables them to ignore their own anxiety and issues. This rescue role is also pivotal because their actual primary interest is really an avoidance of their own problems disguised as concern for the victim’s needs.
3. The Persecutor: The persecutor is controlling, blaming, critical, oppressive, angry, authoritarian, rigid, and superior.

 Drama triangles are initiated when a person takes on the role of a victim or persecutor. This person then feels the need to enlist other players into the conflict.

The victim will seek out a Persecutor as a way to justify their feelings of powerlessness, and a Rescuer who will save the day but also perpetuate the Victim's feelings of powerlessness.

The Persecutor may ironically see themselves as a Rescuer, someone who is out to rescue the victim. These persecutors may cause conflict on behalf of the victim, in the process victimising others.

We all have a natural role that we most identify with, and this forms our view of ourselves. As an ex-nurse and WHS professional, I recognise myself as a rescuer. But just as we recognise this preferred role, it is important to understand that Drama Triangles are dynamic, often switching in the middle of a drama, or even when seen from a different perspective.

Drama Triangles in the Pandemic

Now that we are thinking in Drama Triangles, it doesn't take long to think of a list of examples where these roles are playing out in conflict. In this article, we will discuss the drama triangle of health care workers and the impact on Workplace Health and Safety.

The Rescuer (Hero)

In terms of the drama triangle, there is a natural tendency of those working in health care to be rescuers. This can create a sense of pride when sacrificing our own interests in the interests of our patients or our community. This mentality or role creates the conditions for eroding our own wellbeing, health and safety at work with health care workers suffering one of the highest rates of Workers Compensation in the country.  

Let’s now look at the social pressures of the media and social media on Health Care workers. During Covid 19 there has been a heightened campaign of calling health care workers heroes or angels. What is the impact of this?

Unfortunately seeing our health care workers in this way helps us justify the working conditions they are currently suffering. Fatigue, overwork, inadequate staffing and resources, inadequate PPE and even denial of choice in the risks they are able to take are all features of this dark side of the hero.

Instead of allowing us to see that health care workers are just that, workers, who deserve a workplace which is safe and without risk to their health, we instead justify these known lacks as part of the lot of a hero.

In this way our heroes become victims, suffering ill-health and even death at the hands of a system of work that does not take adequate care of their health, safety and wellbeing.

Ironically, if we fail to look after our health care workers, we are all in greater danger. For as our very human health workers become sick, or even die, not only are we victimising them, but we are also putting our whole health system in jeopardy, delivering a mortal blow to the effectiveness of our response to Covid19.

Meanwhile, our focus on health workers as has shifted our attention away from considering a whole section of workers in less “glamorous” but no less important roles such as checkout operators, daycare worker, teacher, delivery driver, logistics workers, and others who continue to provide vital work during the pandemic. 

No more drama - Empowering ourselves to respond 

Drama is a distraction from the real game, heightening emotions so we are less likely to relate effectively, and distracting our attention so we fail to see what needs to be done to protect these important workers during this challenging times.

What if we re-imagine the Drama Triangle into a Triangle of Empowerment?

As we shift our thinking to empowerment, our victims move to propose creative solutions, persecutors raise challenges and in doing so improves our understanding and rigour and Rescuers become coaches or carers.

These empowered roles co-exist in respectful and effective problem solving and teamwork, and this shift of perspective makes all the difference to the way we view the circumstances we are faced with.

From the place of Empowerment Triangles, everyone has a role to play in solving the problems at hand. Once we have dropped the drama we can start to pay attention to identifying the issues, applying our best minds creatively and logically to solving them.

If we take this empowerment view a range of conflict-prone situations turn into opportunities to improve health, safety and wellbeing.  

From Victim to Creative

Workers will be empowered to raise creative ideas about how we can better manage the risks and create safer work environments during this time. After all, we know that those who are doing the job have a deep and practical understanding of the issues they face on a day by day basis. Why not unleash their engaged creativity to help solve problems?

From Persecutor to Challenger:

We will start to see the person raising issues with how we manage Covid 19 in the workplace or the community as a challenger, a constructive role in raising serious concerns for consideration and resolution.

From Rescuer (Hero) to Coach

This is a time when there is an important role for those who have key knowledge. This includes Workplace Health and Safety professionals. People in these roles are called upon to:

1. Simplify the complex information and requirements.
2. Communicate clearly.  
3. Ensure supporting procedures, processes and tools are available to those who need to lead and do the frontline work.

For leaders, this role is all about keeping our teams empowered and focused on working together to ensure health, safety and wellbeing remains paramount in our workplaces and our community.

In my lifetime, it seems that it has never been more important for us to drop the drama and empower ourselves. 

Authored by Susan Zivcec.