COMPASSION FATIGUE - THE REASON WHY CARING COMES WITH A COST
- Malavika Prasad
- Jun 23, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 12, 2020
I consider myself lucky to be a part of the world that has revolutionized its perspective towards mental health. We are more open and aware to talks on issues pertaining to our mind that were initially considered silly internal dialogues. To simply state it – We have become innately compassionate.
Being compassionate doesn’t come about that easy as you think. Lending out an ear to listen comes with a cost. For one, its a altruistic act that requires prioritizing the welfare of another human over you. Despite our best efforts, we may find it overwhelming to hear our dear ones out during a mental breakdown. And this is not strictly limited to mental issues, being a support for a physically injured can take a toll on your mind. Its an overwhelming feeling that affects our mind unconsciously. Seeing struggle and suffering, and being a part of the journey demands real strength over your mind and sometimes one end up feeling distressed. The term associated to this feeling is called Compassion Fatigue.
The American Institute of Stress defines the term Compassion Fatigue as follows:
The emotional residue or strain of exposure to working with those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events. It differs from burn-out, but can co-exist. Compassion Fatigue can occur due to exposure on one case or can be due to a “cumulative” level of trauma.
Note: There is a significant difference between Compassion Fatigue and Burnout, one being that Burnout is eventual exhaustion from increased work load or high pressure situation and not necessarily trauma related .You can find detailed articles on the same below.
What causes Compassion Fatigue depends on a lot of factors including the frequency of exposure to sufferings. This is largely experienced by health workers and psychologist who have to witness and endure through the sufferings of their patients. This emotional stress tends to occupy a prime real estate on their mind over time. The effect Compassion fatigue can have is varied. Some may resort to apathy where they no longer hold empathy for the sufferings and others prefer isolation from work and tend to stay home.
Compassion Fatigue has a long history. Mother Teresa made sure that her nuns took a MANDATORY one year leave , every 4-5 years, to be able to recover from the effects of care giving.
Compassion fatigue, if anything is your brains exhaustion process that leads to mental numbness. Its not a mental illness as such but can be considered as a fatigue.
The ways to recover is rather simple: Self Care.
Indulging in self care, engaging in new hobbies and connecting with friends are a few of the many recovery steps that helps to heal the mental strain. I shall leave the links to the articles that give an in detail recovery procedures for those of you interested.
Getting to the main point of this article, these have been some terrible tough time. The world has had a lot to digest. But there are some brave souls out there protecting and caring for us amidst this crisis. The front line workers. If we think that the ever increasing rates of 'Covid' cases and unavailability of masks or PPT kits should be a source of concern for them, think about how they are battling their internal self from all this stress.
So if you are close to a front line worker ensure to give them the simple pleasures of life – by talking to them, cooking for them, switching of your phone when you are around them . Every bit counts.
A big salute to all those brave hearts.
We, the world, shall forever be grateful for your work and we shall collectively pray for your well being.
Disclaimer: The article is a collection of my research work on the topic. Please find the sources of my references below:
For articles about Compassion fatigues:
Differences between Burnout and Compassion fatigue:
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