In our daily lives, we all get busy and overwhelmed by stressors and tasks that need to be done. However, there comes a time when we start feeling as if the tasks or the stressors never have an end. We find it difficult to listen to people or be empathetic towards family members going through a tough time. We have all heard of burnout, but we not always sure how to identify its onset or what we need to do when we are already burnt out. In some instances, we do not have burnout but we are experiencing compassion fatigue.
Burnout and compassion fatigue are more common in fields where people work with high stress and emotional demands. For example, social workers, paramedics and doctors, projects managers, marketing managers, caregivers and lawyers.
Burnout and compassion fatigue are not the same thing. Burnout is a loss of meaning in your work and can affect your productivity and effectiveness. Compassion fatigue is the constant preoccupation of taking on or being concerned about the trauma experienced by others, which results in a secondary trauma for the person experiencing the compassion fatigue.
BURNOUT
People experience burnout in various settings, but the causes are very much the same. When you are working in a prolonged state of stress or with a high workload, you will begin to feel tired. However, burnout is characterised with more than just being tired. You might just need a break if you are tired. Burnout has symptoms of feeling constantly exhausted and fatigued. You will feel emotionally overwhelmed or drained. This lack of energy will eventually result in a lowered rate of productivity at work. You will start becoming negative towards your job and the people you work with. Your body’s immune system will get affected and you will start getting sick more often. Being sick more often will mean more time spent away from work; which will lead to a decline in productivity; and the cycle will continue.
The only way to slow down or hopefully prevent burnout is to engage with yourself and recognise when you are overwhelmed and exhausted. By exercising regularly, eating well and getting enough sleep, you can also recover faster from the possible onset of burnout. Make time for downtime. It is important to allow yourself time to recuperate and replenish your energy.
COMPASSION FATIGUE
People experience compassion fatigue when they are constantly exposed to traumatised individuals. People with compassion fatigue get to a point where they find it difficult to cope with their own everyday life. They become irritable and have chronic physical and emotional exhaustion. They have difficulty sleeping, begin to lose weight and have consistent headaches. They question their own adequacy and often feel contempt. They begin to depersonalise by reduced feelings of empathy or sympathy.
The big difference between burnout and compassion fatigue is burnout is a process but compassion fatigue comes on quite quickly. The most common profession to experience compassion fatigue are caregivers.
People with compassion fatigue need to prioritise self-care and spend time doing things that bring them joy, such as spending time with friends, spend time on hobbies, going on hikes, etc. They should try to share about what they are experiencing and even join a support group, if they can.
SOLUTION
There is no perfect way to stop life happening on life’s terms. Most often, we cannot control what is happening in our different environments (work, lockdown, relationships, etc.) but we can only make ourselves aware of what we (as individuals) are going though. You can only control your own actions and methods of doing things. Make small changes to make life a bit easier. Use the guidelines given to make self-care an item on your to-do-list. Talk to someone that is trained in dealing with burnout and compassion fatigue. Any small thing you do will help in the long-run.