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Compassion fatigue was first used by Carla Joinson in 1992, when conducting a study on burnout syndrome in emergency nurses. Below we detail this curious phenomenon, also called compassionate fatigue, which is often difficult to diagnose as it is not as well-known as anxiety fatigue, stress fatigue, or emotional fatigue.
What is compassion fatigue?
Caring for patients experiencing trauma, pain, and suffering can greatly affect the health of the psychotherapist or healthcare personnel, leading to what is known as compassion fatigue. This concept is defined as a type of stress resulting from the therapeutic helping relationship, empathy, and emotional commitment to the suffering patient (Myezyentseva, 2014).
This phenomenon primarily affects professionals who work to alleviate suffering in people’s lives in moments close to death, and it results from the imbalance between caring for others and caring for oneself.
Compassion is defined as “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is affected by suffering or misfortune, accompanied by an intense desire to alleviate the pain or remove its cause.” Therefore, the capacity for compassion and empathy are fundamental elements for working with terminally ill patients or in palliative care, even when we can be harmed by the work (Myezyentseva, 2014).
It is said that helping others and self-sufficiency represent a behavioral pattern that is often well-regarded in this culture of super productivity, and it concerns people who tend to say: “I’ll help you! Leave it to me, I’ll do it.” In fact, these individuals often receive positive reinforcement (extrinsic motivation) as they offer to solve what needs to be done, or what no one else can/wants to resolve. However, some authors point out that compassion satisfaction (CS) is the feeling of fulfillment and joy of helping another person and comes from a more intrinsic than extrinsic motivation. It represents a form of hope, strength, and ultimately, resilience. This satisfaction with what is done is what allows one to deal day by day with another misfortune or tragedy (Samhsa, 2014).
Main factors in compassion fatigue
There are four main factors that contribute to the development of compassion fatigue:
a) Poor self-care.
b) Unresolved past trauma.
c) The inability or refusal to control stress factors.
d) Lack of job satisfaction (Myezyentseva, 2014).
Some symptoms preceding compassion fatigue that often go unnoticed are: dissociation, anger, anxiety, sleep disorders, exhaustion and feeling overwhelmed, nightmares, feelings of helplessness and failure.
Nausea, weight changes, headaches, dizziness, fainting, and hearing problems; symptoms such as substance abuse, spending less time with patients and friends, appearing indifferent, the emergence of sarcasm and cynicism (Myezyentseva, 2014).
Likewise, compassion fatigue shares three groups of symptoms with post-traumatic stress:
1.- Re-experiencing (reliving, remembering with a strong emotional charge).
2.- Avoidance and psychic numbing (attitudes of both physical and emotional distancing from people, not just patients).
3.- Hyperactivation or hyperarousal (state of tension, permanent alertness, and reactivity)
How to Treat Compassion Fatigue
There are a series of basic suggestions for managing compassion fatigue (Samhsa, 2014):
Psychotherapeutic and healthcare personnel working in these types of environments should focus on building and/or maintaining their capacities and strengths, contributing to their behavioral, cognitive, physical, spiritual, and emotional recovery capacity, which is why they should focus on the basic components of resilience: adequate sleep, good nutrition, regular physical activity, and active relaxation (for example, yoga or meditation).
On the other hand, it is important to take the necessary time to learn about the population one works with. To do this, it is useful to initiate conversations that promote positive feelings between the person and their environment. Likewise, one should participate in celebrating successes and mourning defeats alongside colleagues.
Spending some time alone also allows one to see things in perspective, think, meditate, and rest. Even, at times, stepping away from the environment and/or treated population can help remember that not all places are problematic.
Finally, one should let go of stress or anger or honor the memory of those who are no longer present, depending on the situation.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]