[378] - The Human Behind the Mask

Some people can look calm, capable, and completely in control on shift… while quietly falling apart underneath it all.

In this episode, I talk honestly about “the mask” many shift workers wear, and the toll it can take over time. This conversation is for anyone regularly exposed to trauma at work, including police, paramedics, nurses, firefighters, vets, vet nurses, dental teams, and other high-stress professions.

• Why “moving on” isn’t the same as actually processing trauma
 • How repeated exposure to stress can keep your nervous system stuck in fight-or-flight
 • Why trauma isn’t just mental, but also physical and stored in the body
 • How stress can show up as poor sleep, hypervigilance, aches, irritability, emotional distance, and burnout
 • What happens when you bring “the mask” home to your family
 • Why partners often end up walking on eggshells without understanding why
 • The early warning signs your nervous system is overloaded
 • Why your mental health needs regular maintenance, just like a car
 • How trauma-informed breathwork can help regulate stress and release tension safely
 • Why you don’t always need to relive every detail to begin healing

If the mask is getting heavy, there’s a link in the show notes where you can book a one-off session or a 15-minute coaching assessment.

If this episode helped, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a rating and review to help more shift workers find the show.

Transcript

The Mask And Mental Health

The Biological Cost Of Coping

Taking The Mask Home

Servicing Your Nervous System

Breathwork For Somatic Release

Reach Out And Book A Chat

Subscribe Review And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Shift work can be brutal, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome to a healthy shift. My name is Roger Sutherland, certified nutritionist, veteran law enforcement officer, and 24-7 shift worker for almost four decades. Through this podcast, I aim to educate shift workers using evidence-based methods to not only survive the rigors of shift work, but thrive. My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and well-being so they have more energy to do the things they love. Enjoy today's show. And welcome to another episode of a Healthy Shift Podcast. My name is Roger Sutherland, and you are so welcome to today's episode. Today I am opening up and I'm talking about something that I think will really resonate with you and something that you really need to listen to and understand. It's not long today, it's only short because I want to explain this in a really simple way for you to understand. I want you to feel seen today because it's very, very important. The episode is about wearing that mask. This is about mental health today, and it's something that's really important. Uh, the last two to three months. Now you've got to remember, I did 40 years in police in the front line, working 24-7 shift work right through. None of this eight to four stuff. I did the rotating shifts, and it has an impact. And uh something that I've been dealing with in particular over the last three months has brought out a lot of internal trauma for me, and it's been very, very difficult for me. Um, and I realized, and and I realize that through a whole uh series over the last six years of psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy, um, and things like that, and breath work, I've been putting the jigsaw together the whole lot as to what was going on and why and how. Um, and I've I've been doing really well, and I mean that with all sincerity. I've been doing really well, but something happened in the background in the last three months that I'm I'm not ready to talk about at this point. Um, it happened in the background, but it has literally knocked me over in a really significant way, and and it's hurt in a big way. Um, and I want to talk about the mask today and the mask that we all as, you know, in particular those working in frontline health and emergency services, but there's many of you that are in jobs where you're exposed to traumas all the time. Um, it and I see you, if you're a vet or something like that and you're dealing with the trauma of like dealing with animals and things like we talk about frontline health and emergency services, but you know, vets take it on as well, you know, and there's vet nurses out there, and there's traumas that you're dealing with. So you've seen as well, everybody. I want people to, while I talk about frontline health and emergency services, majority of my following are that, but I do see you as people who are also dealing with significant trauma in your everyday. And I want you to know that you're seen, and this episode is for you, all right? And I want you to listen to it very carefully because if there's one thing that's really important for us all to understand is we are all humans, regardless of, well, I know a few that are not human, but anyway, that's another issue altogether. But we are all humans behind the mask, all right? We we all wear this facade, we're we're all there, but underneath, we are all living and breathing humans. We all have an autonomic nervous system, we've got a heart that's beating, lungs that are breathing. We're all exactly the same underneath. We're breathing humans. And in our line of work, whether it's policing, fire, nursing, paramedicine, whether you're a vet, vet nurse, dentist, you know, name it. You you're dealing with trauma. Um, and that mask is not just equipment, it's actually a survival tool that we all wear. It's the face that you put on when you step out of your vehicle and you walk into the ward, or you walk, you know, into the police station or into the fire station or step into the ambulance. You put the mask on, and it's that calm and that professional exterior that tells the world, I've got this. All right, and it tells everybody else I've got this. And you give confidence because you're wearing that mask, you're smiling, and and you, you know, you are the person that you are. You might be a really bubbly and effervescent person, and and that's a mask. It may very well be a mask that you're wearing because internally you're dealing with quite a significant amount of trauma. But there is a biological cost to that mask, and this is what I want to talk about today because it's very important. Civilians might face one trauma. They might witness a car accident or see someone assaulted or something that's quite severe to them because they're not exposed to this all the time, so they see something, and then they have weeks or months to process it. You know, they can just deal with it, go through the brain, it just manages to just gradually it leaches out of the system and that's it. But for us, we have seconds because we go from one horrific scene to a radio call to the next patient shift after shift. We're just going one after the other all the time. And it's not unusual for us to be travel uh exposed to four to six traumas or so in a shift. Most civilians won't go through that in a lifetime. All right. So we've got to keep that in mind and we've got to remember that. Now you think you're okay because you're moving on. But moving on is not the same as moving through it. And I want to be very clear with that on you. Today we're talking about that ledger that your body is keeping and why eventually that mask has to fall off. So let's talk about what the evidence tells us and why the science, why I'm okay or I'm fine, is actually a lie. When we experience a traumatic event, our autonomic nervous system triggers that fight or flight response. And in a normal world, that energy gets used or discharged, doesn't it? Right? So it triggers it and we discharge it. Bang. But in our world, we actually suppress it. We compartmentalize it, we bury it so that we can actually get through and finish the shift. Now, science will tell us that trauma is not just a memory in your head, right? It's not just what you're feeling in your head. Not feeling, but what you're seeing and that those visions. It's actually somatic. Now, what does that mean? It means it lives in your muscles, your fascia, your nervous system. Research into neurobiology will actually show us and tells us that we don't process these high stress events. If we don't process these high stress events, then the threat actually stays active in our body. Now your brain might say, Oh yeah, I'm fine, but your body is still back at that scene from three years ago. And it's why that, you know, you're in the grocery store and you're hyper-vigilant or you're on a train or you're going out in the city or something. And it's why you can't sleep, despite you being exhausted. And it's why your back aches for no reason. The ledger is full, and the body is trying to collect. Now, I spent 40 years in the police force and I know that cycle. Trust me. I see you, I see you finishing that shift. I see you then dealing with and seeing the absolute worst of humanity trying to do your job and getting abused or spat on or punched or or just treated with utmost disdain and contempt. And then what do you do? You get in the car, you drive home, and then you walk through your front door. And then you've got to pop the mask on. Because now you're mum or your dad or you're the provider, the soulmate, the financier, you're the playmate for the kids. You're cooking dinner, you're asking about homework, and you're being the stable one. But you are always carrying around an invisible backpack which is filled with lead. But you're smiling through it because you don't want that poison to touch your family or your friends. Now I did this for four decades, and I thought I was winning. But every now and again the mask would slip. I say slip, and this is where it's going to resonate with you, and this is where you need to listen very carefully. Because you get irritable, you become quite distant, or just you just feel empty. You start suffering from anidonia, which is where you just can't seem to get any pleasure out of anything at all. You just don't want to be, you just don't want to be out, you just don't want to be that you just don't. You find it a struggle to get up and go and do anything outside of what you absolutely have to do. But here's the truth you're a human, and you are allowed to let that mask fall. You're not a Batman. You don't have to wear two complete personas. You are a person, a human, with a nervous system that has its limits. Now here's a solution. I want you to think about your car. Now you don't just buy your car and then just drive it for a hundred thousand miles or kilometers without oil change and with and expect it to keep running. And if you ignore that check engine light long enough, what happens? The whole system seizes up. What makes you think that you're any different? Your nervous system is no different, and it also needs a service. And how do we deal with that? Well, we open up and we talk, we listen to our partners. If they start highlighting to us that we're short or angry or whatever, have a conversation. They might be in your home wondering how to address it with you because you keep flying off the handle. And there's a sign. Maybe you need in the cold light of day to sit down with them and say, How do you see me trekking? How do you see me? What do you see? What do you blah, blah, blah? Have that conversation with them. It's an enormously beneficial conversation because they're close to you and they're going to call it like it is. They've grown with you, they've watched the changes in you. They are trying to walk around on eggshells around you. Do you think that they actually deserve that? Do you think that they deserve that because you had a bad shift at work, that they should be your punching bag? And I don't mean that literally, I mean someone that you can just take whatever you feel like out on them and expect them to accept it. Because that's not right. Now there's a way of dealing with a highly wired autonomic nervous system, and we have to get that trauma out. And one way that we can do that, well, there's a couple of ways. We can go and seek help and talk about it, but that trauma can still stay trapped in our system. And this is where when I learn about breath work and breakthrough breath work, the difference was immense. And I mean immense. And you know what's even better about it? Once you learn how to do it, it's free from there on in. And this is where that breath work comes in. Because as a trauma-informed facilitator, I don't just look at the mindset, I know where you've been, I know what it's like. I've been there, I'm still there. I'm still there. I'm working through it, I go in and out of it, but I'm still there. But what I do is I look at the physiology. Breath work is a solid, evidence-based tool that talks directly to your autonomic nervous system. This is where the stress is trapped. It is a manual override for your stress response. And through specific guided breathing, we can reveal where that somatic memory is trapped and then safely just discharge it. Now we aren't talking about your problems. That's got nothing to do with me at all. I am not a trained psychologist. What we're doing is we're just actually physically clearing the sludge out of your engine. Now, think about it. You go and get your car serviced. Here's one. How much better does your car feel when you put new tires on it? I put new tires on my car the other way. I can't believe the difference it made. You don't realize how flat they go because it becomes your new normal. It's exactly the same as working. It becomes your new normal all the time. You don't realize until you actually release it, you feel so much lighter. You think, wow. The car's after the service, it's smoother, it's quieter, the rattles have gone, it's more responsive. And this is exactly how your body feels after a deep release. The weight lifts. You can put the backpack down for a while. The fine actually becomes real peace. It's okay to open up, it's okay to let the mask fall off. It's okay to talk about it. And I've got to tell you, you will feel so much better afterwards. Now I shared an image on my social media this week, which is really quite telling about the mask, the smiling face, and the tears underneath. Have a look at it. It's on my Healthy Shift Facebook, it's on social media, on my Instagram. But it really does tell the story. And if this one resonated with you, and if you feel like that mask is heavy and it's getting heavy to hold up, because it does, I want you to know this that you don't have to carry it alone. I've been where you are, I've worn the uniform, and I have literally felt the accumulation of the years. I'm here to help you to navigate the release. Not talk about it. We're not going to talk about it, but just to navigate the release. You'll do that yourself. So that you can actually start to feel safe and calm in your own skin again. So don't wait for that engine to seize. Don't wait and ignore that warning light. It's there. Think about it. Think of how short you are with the kids. Think about where did that come from. Oh my God, what did I say that for? How is that? That's it. They're the early warning signs. So don't wait for the engine to seize. I want you to reach out. Let's have a conversation about how I can help you with this. Now you can find a link in the show notes to talk to me about it. You can book a one-off session or we can do a 15-minute coaching assessment where we can talk about how I can help you. Because I can't. Out of everything that I did, out of all of what I've done, on my journey, understanding exercise, understanding movement, understanding chronutrition, understanding chronobiology, understanding the psychology that I went through, the psychiatry that I went through, everything that I went through, psycho psychotherapy, it's all been led, it's all led to one thing. And when I did the breathwork course in August of 2025, I will never forget how much better I felt after that. Breathwork is life-changing. So you can find a link to book a session or have a chat with me down in the show notes there. Let's get your car serviced. It's something that you should do regularly. Even if you're not sure whether you need it or not, try it. You will be amazed at what it does. Amazed at what it actually does and how you feel. You need to open yourself up and be vulnerable, let it go. All right. It's private, it's very respectful, and it's something that will really help you. I've got absolutely no doubt about it. So let's get that mask off. Let's just let it fall for a moment so that you can breathe and breathe again. Because you are seen, you are human, and you do matter. I hope that helped. Share it with someone that needs to hear it, and I'll talk to you next time. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released. It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on. If you want to know more about me or work with me, you can go to ahealtyshift.com. I'll catch you on the next one.