Compassion Fatigue

What is Compassion Fatigue? | Causes | Signs

It refers to a state of intense tiredness and high levels of stress or trauma that occur after prolonged periods of helping others [1]. Professionals in healthcare, such as psychologists, may experience this as they spend most of their time caring for people who may be dealing with severe issues.

When a caregiver is extremely focused on their patient’s severe pain, emotional distress or trauma, they may experience Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS). Coupled with Cumulative Burnout (CB), which is fatigue, exhaustion and an inability to cope with everyday tasks, an individual may develop compassion fatigue [2]. The effects of fatigue may be aggravated by the amount of exposure the caregiver has to the patient’s trauma and the graphic nature of said trauma.

Places of healthcare delivery, such as hospitals and community shelters, have a higher incidence of compassion fatigue. As a result, leading to increased absenteeism, mental health claims, turnover rates and diminished productivity [3].

Here are some displayed sighs, but they are not limited to [4]:

• Exhaustion
• Anger or irritability 
• Poor coping mechanisms (e.g. substance abuse)
• Reduced capacity to feel empathy or sympathy 
• Decreased enjoyment and fulfilment in work 
• Being absent from work 
• Impaired ability to make work decisions regarding patients or clients