Compassion Fatigue
Compassion fatigue can affect anyone whether they are a caregiver in their professional life, personal life, or both. Compassion fatigue can be hard to recognize because the way each person experiences their symptoms ranges greatly from ‘just a few’ or ‘many’. Some symptoms might be subtle while others might feel extreme. All this being said, it is often hard to identify when someone or yourself might be struggling with compassion fatigue.
What should you look out for?
“A decline in the ability to feel empathy and sympathy with those who you work with or for those who you care for.
Shifts in becoming more task-oriented versus emotion focused.
Feelings of physical and emotional exhaustion” (Stoewen, 2020).
Compassion fatigue can also “increase negative emotions, including anger, cynicism, irritability, resentment, annoyance, and many more. There may be mood swings, anxiety, tearfulness, sadness, despair which all can lead to less productivity in the workplace and the inability to provide effective treatment and caregiving essentials to those in need.
Compassion fatigue disturbs the ability to think clearly, regulate emotions, and maintain hope” (Stoewen, 2020).
So, how do you combat compassion fatigue?
Make self-care a routine. It is important to take care of yourself before taking care of others. “Put your oxygen mask on before helping others with theirs,” says every flight attendant. Also, be intentional with your self-care and not ‘just go through the motions.’
Practice self-compassion. It is easy to get down on ourselves when we feel the effects of compassion fatigue because we often think and feel “it’s our job” but, you’re not alone in your struggle and you’re human too. Be kind to yourself and reach out for support!
Create a community. Connecting with like-minded people can help lessen the impacts of compassion fatigue by creating a safe place to ‘check-in’ with each other and support each other.
Focus on “compassion satisfaction.” Instead of focusing on the negatives, try to focus on the wins of each day (Clay, 2020).
You are not alone in your struggle with compassion fatigue. If necessary, reach out to friends, co-workers, or a licensed professional for help.
Laura Cole, MSW, LCSW
Clay, R. (2020, June 11). Are you experiencing compassion fatigue? Apa.org. https://www.apa.org/topics/covid-19/compassion-fatigue
Stoewen, D. L. (2020). Moving from compassion fatigue to compassion resilience Part 4: Signs and consequences of compassion fatigue. The Canadian Veterinary Journal, 61(11), 1207–1209. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7560777.