Caring until it hurts

Our counselors sometimes encounter a syndrome called “compassion fatigue.” This is a type of stress that can affect anyone who is continually exposed to the pain and trauma of others. It’s often called “the cost of caring.”

Psychologist Dr. Charles Figley has studied this type of stress and says, “It is an extreme state of tension and preoccupation with the suffering of those being helped to the degree that it can create a secondary traumatic stress for the helper.”

This can often affect people who have a highly empathetic nature. They often identify with and take on the suffering of others until the burden is too great and they become desensitized. They may develop apathy, sadness, or even experience nightmares and flashbacks. To cope with the intensity of the feelings, sufferers may adopt self-destructive coping mechanisms, such as unhealthy eating or drinking, drug use, risk taking, cynicism, and intense anger.

It’s common in the traditional helping professions, such as healthcare, but it can affect others, too: attorneys who deal with problemed people; reporters who cover tragedies and wars; even family caregivers who provide care for a terminally ill or incapacitated family member.

While compassion fatigue is a specific syndrome, there are related forms of stress or burnout that anyone can experience. You might hear talk of “disaster fatigue” or “outrage fatigue,” for example. With 24/7 news coverage and social media, we are continually exposed to a steady stream of terrible news and the suffering of our fellow humans in the form of natural disasters, mass shootings, violence