By David L. Podos
About 63 million Americans are caregivers, according to AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) and the National Alliance for Caregiving.
They lend support to those who are experiencing serious health conditions, from cancer, to chronic pain, mental health issues such as severe anxiety and or depression, to dementia and much more. The majority are family members helping someone in their family.
The United States also has just fewer than five million first responders, which include police, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics. Furthermore, there are well more than half a million licensed mental health professionals in the United States, which include therapists, psychologists, mental health counselors and other paraprofessionals such as social and human services assistants.
What do all these people have in common?
They all expend a lot of time and energy in helping people in need or in a crisis situation. They are also potentially vulnerable to compassion fatigue, which often is looked at as caregiver burnout, but it is not exactly the same.
Caregiver burnout is a real issue.
In a medically reviewed report from the Cleveland Clinic, dated August of 2023, caregiver burnout is a state of physical and emotional stress, as well as mental exhaustion, which happens while taking care of someone else. It often stems from constant stress, excessive workload (often due to employee shortages), as well as a lack of resources, (dysfunctional direct management or dysfunctional administration). Compassion fatigue, on the other hand, while similar to burnout, does have its differences.
Jim Davis is the executive director of Samaritan Counseling Center in Utica. Lately, he has been working collaboratively with other social service agencies and caregivers to discuss compassion fatigue.
“I put together a training on the topic of compassion fatigue. So, compassion fatigue it may resemble or some people might think it is burnout. But it is a bit different from the typical burnout we hear so much about,” he said. “Compassion fatigue has to do with people who work with people in settings like hospitals, first responders, intense emotional situations, crisis type situations or just being a caregiver to a loved one who might be dealing with neurological or dementia—type issues. Many are people who are simply taking time to take care of their loved ones who are very sick.”
People who care for others over a long period of time often take the risk of being exposed to that person’s trauma, he added. It is often referred to as vicarious trauma or secondary trauma. He said the person may be experiencing really intense stress or post-traumatic stress. There are other symptoms that people with compassionate fatigue show. The caregiver starts losing the ability to have empathy, the person can become more jaded, increase irritability, their humor may become darker. These are just a few of the changes that can happen.
Like other emotional disorders, people who are experiencing compassionate fatigue can get help. One of the first things a therapist can do is to “normalize” what the caregiver is going through.
“Letting them know that this often happens to people who work to help other people, that you are not alone, you are not a bad person,” he said.
Davis offered other tips and advice.
“A network of people that you can reach out and talk about what you are going through is very helpful. These are people that you can trust and won’t judge you,” he said. “Some people might want to talk to clergy or see a therapist like me or a special friend. Doing something as simple as a few minutes of exercise each day or deep breathing often can center us and reduce stress. Eat good foods to maintain proper nutrition, try to get a good night’s sleep. These are just some of things that can help.”
Burnout usually comes from organizational chaos where people are being overworked, (mandated overtime for example), unlike compassionate fatigue, which results primarily from emotional exhaustion, according to Davis.
“It is really important to care for ourselves, to be honest in what we are able to do and what we cannot do,” he said. “Self-care is important for everyone. But for those of us who are in the helping profession or are caregivers to loved ones, self-care is absolutely critical.”