What is Compassion Fatigue (CF)? Compassion Fatigue is a term that describes the physical, emotional and psychological impact of helping other people. Caring professions such as health care workers, emergency services workers, funeral directors, faith leaders, child protection workers, palliative care workers and mental health professionals are at risk of developing Compassion Fatigue as a result of assisting others through experiences of stress or trauma.
CF is not the same as vicarious trauma or burn out. The professionals listed above need to be aware of the risk of CF and have strategies in place if they recognise the signs.
And that’s the tricky part – caring professionals often don’t recognise this signs of CF in themselves. Or they might notice that they’re not their usual selves, but push on in spite of the signs. Even self-aware, well informed people can miss the signs and end up in a state of burn out.
An early and easy to identify sign of CF is lack of tolerance for those in distress. Snapping at someone who would usually receive an empathic response is an example of this. Running on empty and feeling exhausted most of the time is an additional sign. This might manifest as increased absenteeism from work, or frequent lateness to work.
As a preventative measure, caring professionals can give permission to one or two people who know them well to ask how they are coping so that early interventions can be put into place if necessary.
It is possible to overcome CF, but it takes a multi-pronged, supportive approach. This might include changes in workplace culture and leadership, peer support, therapeutic interventions such as mindfulness and self-administered practices such as self-care and self-compassion. Kristin Neff is an expert on the topic of self-compassion. Her books are easily accessible and contain practical information about applying self-compassion, if you’d like to find out more.
People in helping professions engage in some of the most important work in society. Too many highly skilled people are lost to their professions due to Compassion Fatigue. However, when treated holistically, recovery is very possible.
