What is Compassion Fatigue?

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Ask any mom, and she may say she has compassion fatigue. Because moms give and give and get run down. 

Compassion Fatigue is a little different. The definition is:

"The emotional residue or strain of exposure to working with those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events. It differs from burn-out, but can co-exist. Compassion Fatigue can occur due to exposure on one case or can be due to a “cumulative” level of trauma."

For those of you who are regular readers of the blog, you know that I have 3 children, all of whom inherited my allergies and asthma. 

And their childhood was full of doctor visits, After Hours Visits, ER visits and hospitalizations. In fact, they ended up in the hospital 12 times when they were little. (I can't tell you how much I hate pneumonia and smoke from forest fires......)

Even Asthma Doc struggled to figure out how to control their asthma. He consulted about my kids with another specialist during a national asthma conference!

I was a stay at home mom during that time, and in charge of all of their medical care. I felt like I was barely functioning during those year. Looking back, I'm sure I had Compassion Fatigue. 

What are the symptoms?

  • Not taking care of your appearance or hygiene
  • Stomach problems or frequent colds
  • Sadness, or apathy to things you used to enjoy
  • Physically and mentally tired
  • Hard time concentrating  
  • Nightmares or flashbacks to traumatic events you witnessed
Every time I had a kid in the hospital, it was scary. And things didn't go as planned. They had to try 7 times to get an IV in. Or they had to take a blood gas (they draw blood from an artery instead of a vein - which is very painful.) Or they had the heart monitor hooked up to my son and the crash cart parked outside his room in case he stopped breathing while in ICU.

I was struggling to take care of my sick little kid in the hospital and take care of the other kids at home, get groceries, help with homework, etc. etc.

  I wished I had known the symptoms of Compassion Fatigue and what to do about it back then. If you find yourself in that situation, The American Institute of Stress has some things that can help:

  • Call a friend (or whoever else you like to talk to)
  • Know that the pain you are feeling is normal
  • TRY to get enough sleep
  • Exercise and eat healthy
  • Take some time off
Mother Theresa would have her nuns take an entire year off after caring for others for 4 or 5 years. I can't take a year off, but I can take some time off work.
 
I also watch funny movies and videos of pets online!

Don't suffer in silence - reach out for help if you need it! :)

 
 
 

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