Since there were no real clinical words to describe what we’re talking about, we’re going to call it “Wilson” Syndrome. (This is in no way related to the Wilson’s syndrome related to the thyroid problems). Hopefully, you’ve seen the movie with Tom Hanks called Cast Away. After a plane crash, a lone man survives on a deserted island for four years. His only companion ends up being a volleyball, named Wilson.
In a nutshell, we’re making an effort to understand the negative psychological effects of being away from family, friends, social interaction and environmental stimulation for extended periods of time. In our case as drivers a more appropriate name would be something like “Solitary Employment Syndrome”?
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
We also believe your pre-existing mental state before exposure would play a role in how you’re effected. When we wrote this article, we discussed how ADHD could possibly increase the effects of “Wilson’s Syndrome” in truckers. Some of the effects of solitary confinement are, memory loss, concentration, and shifting attention. (Problems already associated with ADHD.)
We have children with ADHD so it was hard not to consider this one.
Those adults with ADHD that haven’t been diagnosed usually develop strong coping mechanisms to manage their daily lives. With continued exposure to the challenges of trucking life these individuals may be more susceptible to “Wilson Syndrome” without realizing it.
For those of you in a position to make any kind of change, here are a few more things we covered.
Recognizing Trucker Burnout
Do you have a friend, co-worker, or anyone else you know that may be in this position? As drivers we need to be more in tune to one another. If you had a friend with a drinking problem would you try to help?
Ask your dispatcher, manager, or safety department if they can recognize problems with drivers, and what protocol they have in place to help.
Understanding the age, amount of years on the road, and what sort of work a driver has been involved in may help us recognize problems before they get critical.
Having properly trained staff
Staff should be trained to recognize symptoms and deal with issues properly, so bad situations may be diffused and dealt with before they escalate. There should always be someone on staff that communicates with drivers on a more personal level.
If you suspect psychological risk, have a professional in the field do an assessment instead of untrained staff. Drivers can be very protective of their thoughts and usually won’t share information about their mental health and well-being.
We’re all aware of the dangers of drinking and driving yet we overlook the dangers associated with ‘Wilson Syndrome’. Anger, aggressive driving, sleep disorders and anxiety can put many lives at risk. Drivers with ‘Wilson Syndrome’ will usually have a higher risk of road/fellow driver rage.
Be aware that every truck driver that leaves the terminal, a customer’s location, or moves after any negative interaction could be putting other drivers at a safety risk on the highway.
Safe and professional driving is not just a skill. It’s an attitude.
Summarizing this Article
Firstly, this article recognizes the severity of a problem facing truck drivers (Truck Driver Attitude). The problem is real, and widespread. It’s an increasing problem, and not something we can ignore.
Next we looked at the consequences of this problem. The company can be hurt financially in numerous ways, but these effects can negatively impact company image and overall employee morale too. The drivers affected by “Wilson Syndrome” can experience mental health and possibly even physical health issues.
Where do we go from here?
Our goal with this article is to raise awareness to something that may be directly affecting our mental and physical health. We hope to generate enough interest from our readers to pursue this matter further. We need safer highways, and understanding driver attitude is just one more thing that can get us there.
Of course, these are my own personal thoughts and I’m always open to comments both positive and negative about this article. We’d like to hear your feedback, comments, or stories related to this article.
You can read comments by others, or register to have your say in our forums buy visiting the driver attitude discussion forum.
