Compassion Fatigue

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Definition/ Description

We become clinicians because we have compassion an we are interested in positively influencing a person's quality of life. We give of ourselves so that we may help other's obtain good health. As righteous as this can be, it can also lead to "clinical burnout" or "compassion fatigue".

There are many terms to describe this phenomenon, including:

• Compassion fatigue;
• Secondary Traumatic Stress Syndrome (STSS);
• Clinical burnout;
• Burnout syndrome;
• Moral distress;
• Occupational burnout.

Regardless of the term, a "burnout" can be best understood as: a syndrome (a collection of symptoms) of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment. Symptoms of burnout include mental and physical exhaustion, accompanied by psychosomatic disorders and emotional problems. Burnout occurs most often in people employed in occupations requiring working with people (human services and medical services) as a result of coping with stress and experience numerous failures at work. Moreover, a compassion fatigue denotes a state of emotional exhaustion that can occur as a result of intensive empathic involvement with people who are in distress.

A clinical burnout can occur when a physiotherapist / physical therapist is exposed to chronic, job-related stressors.

For clarity sake, the term Compassion Fatigue (CF), will be used hence forth.

Epidemiology

Compassion fatigue may start at any stage during a physiotherapists career, irrespective of the work situation. Although controversial at the moment, women seem to have a higher level of professional burnout than men.

Clinical Presentation

Therapists experiencing CF reported that they:
- struggle to show compassion to their patients while dealing with job related stressors.

Signs and symptoms of burnout:

·      Work addiction

·      Excessive stress

·      Fatigue

·      Insomnia

·      A negative spillover into personal relationships or home life

·      Depression

·      Anxiety

·      Alcohol or substance abuse

·      Heart disease

·      High cholesterol

·      Type 2 diabetes, especially in women

·      Stroke

·      Obesity

·      Vulnerability to illnesses

·      Feeling like you are involved in workplace bullying

It is possible that older and more experienced therapists hold positions of greater responsibility, in which demands are more difficult to meet. In these situations it can become increasingly difficult to maintain feelings of personal accomplishment.

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