Compassion fatigue is a form of burnout experienced in many service professions such as health care and law enforcement. It results from empathizing too much with another person’s pain. Without realizing it, professional and personal relationships may become entwined. Compassion fatigue can cause painful physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion. Resentment may build toward the person receiving care. Substance abuse might be used as an escape from the exhaustion of caring too much.
Healthcare workers and others in service professions should monitor their behavior and feelings for signs of compassion fatigue. Treatment often includes counseling and the development of coping strategies.
This video titled Compassion Fatigue: The Stress of Caring Too Much describes compassion fatigue as explained by workers in the mental health, hospice, and law enforcement professions.
Frances Shani Parker, Author
Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback at many booksellers and in e-book form at Amazon and Barnes and Noble booksellers.
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