Compassion fatigue is a real thing. It’s the unfortunate cost of caring for others at the expense of your own physical and emotional exhaustion.
In particular, healthcare workers or those that care for their loved ones at home can be prone to this type of fatigue. Often used simultaneously with the “cost of caring,” COVID brought this term to the forefront. Many healthcare workers and home workers were going around the clock. While we knew burnout was a problem, compassion fatigue is actually in a different ballpark.
So, what is compassion fatigue? Are you experiencing this? How do you know? Let’s take a look.
Alright, so compassion fatigue can be categorized as a “type of burnout.” But for the sake of explanation, let’s separate the two.
So, burnout is when a person reaches general overall exhaustion, leading to a lack of motivation and interest in their work.
Compassion fatigue, in comparison, is sometimes called “vicarious trauma.” It involves the negative emotions a person may feel from helping others.
And it sucks. I’m just going to say it. It sucks for a variety of reasons. For example, most of these individuals do care and don’t want to experience these negative emotions. In fact, many of them got into their line of work to help people. But it can, undeniably, be exhausting. Day after day, you’re empathizing. You’re giving. It’s a lot.
On top of this, compassion fatigue doesn’t necessarily come on slowly (unlike burnout which tends to be gradual). Rather, it hits suddenly, usually when experiencing a particularly traumatic scenario.
If you work in healthcare or even at a retirement home, you may come face-to-face with trauma on a daily basis. This may lead to feelings of extreme tiredness and even desperation. And these are definite signs you might be experiencing compassion fatigue.
Other symptoms of compassion fatigue include:
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The symptoms above coincide with the different stages of compassion fatigue. These five stages include:
This is where everything is great. You love helping people, and you’re able to keep a good balance in your personal and professional life.
This is where your passion may begin to dwindle. You might find yourself avoiding certain shifts due to certain patients or cutting corners. You may also begin to notice your self-care fall curbside around this time.
Your passion is a thing of the past. Clients merge into one another, and it might all become rather blurry. You find yourself getting tired and annoyed constantly, you begin to complain more and more about your life (professionally and personally).
You may also begin to neglect social connections and, again, yourself.
This is where you’re going through the motions, but not feeling a whole lot. You’ve almost become dissociated from your thoughts and feelings. You don’t feel you have a purpose. The previous meaning of your role is long gone (or it feels that way!).
Either you come back and begin seeing the positives of life and work. Or you might leave the profession and pursue other passions that aren’t as emotionally taxing.
Healing the Healers: Coping Strategies for Compassion Fatigue→
Maybe you’ve self-diagnosed. You’re experiencing compassion fatigue. Now, what?
Here are a few ways to cope:
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As soon as you notice any kind of compassion fatigue, it might be best to take a leave or a vacation. Alternatively, plan accordingly. Find someone to cover your shift or aid your loved one while you take much-deserved breaks. This is completely okay.
As Activist Mary Davis has said, “We can’t heal the world today but we can begin with a voice of compassion, a heart of love, an act of kindness.”
Make sure you extend this to yourself as well. You should come first, before anything else.
Read Next: How to Master the Fine Art of Putting Yourself First While Staying Compassionate
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Great article. Meaningful.
So happy you enjoyed it Sue!