The psychological aspect, along with the ergonomic./bio-mechanical and physiological, is one of the possible predispositions to injury for an interpreter. Years ago I assumed that ergonomic and bio-mechanical factors were the most significant for sign language interpreters. However, after almost 20 years of teaching workshops and performing diagnostics, I now see that the psychological actually is the most impactful. The psychological factor determines how you take care of yourself physically, how the interpreting task is approached, how you manage your predisposing factors, whether you advocate for yourself or accept unhealthy work terms and conditions, and how you respond if you experience discomfort from interpreting. All of these can impact risk of injury. Some examples of high risk psychological predispositions to injury include: - External locus of control: An external locus of control means to approach life as if it happens to you. An internal locus of control acknowledges that your personal choices determine how you experience life. An external locus of control increases risk of injury because an interpreter is unlikely to take needed action to take care of themselves and to address issues of concern if they view themselves as powerless. - “Savior” mentality: Sometimes interpreters find themselves constructing their lives and schedules around what they believe their consumers need – to their own detriment. It is not healthy or helpful to work from a martyr stance, Doing so may result in personal injury. - Stressful thinking: When you engage in chronic stressful thinking it affects every bodily system. In addition to inhibiting blood circulation, upsetting your body’s hormonal balance, and causing physical muscle tension, chronic stress can also affect the ability of your cells to receive nutrition from the food you eat! The cell receptors can actually get “hijacked” by the stress hormones. Obviously this impacts the ability of your body to repair and nourish itself. - Perfectionism: I think an “Achilles heel” of many sign language interpreters is demanding perfectionism in their work. This is not to imply that your goal should be anything less than producing work of the highest quality. However, perfectionism is an unfair and unrealistic demand. Approaching the task of interpreting with a need for perfection increases stressful feelings and increases risk of injury.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 11:42:56 +0000
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