[THREAD] Given how many people have related to the tweet about compassion fatigue, I decided to make a whole thread about it. What is it? What we can do to protect ourselves and what we can do to get out of it. First and foremost, compassion fatigue stems from empathy.

Empathy is a wonderful way to understand and relate to people around us. It is one of the best traits a person can have, but it is a double edge sword. When we engage in empathy, we also take in the pain of others, their traumas and difficulties.

A lot of secondary trauma (wrote a thread about it a little while ago) stems from having that empathy in many occasions. In times of crises like now, pain is all around us. There is a lot of suffering and we can’t hide from it given how pervasive it is.

That empathy can quickly become overwhelming because we want to help but so much can happen in one day or even one hour that simply hurts us too much. Compassion fatigue can start happening so quickly, whereas in normal times, it can takes months if not years before it develops.

It is important to realize what our limits are. Many people are working way past their limit. When we are exhausted, we are more vulnerable. We don’t have our natural defences ready and we are more susceptible to being hurt by events in our environment.

Therefore, the most important aspect is realizing how much energy we have on a given day. One of the things I do is rate each day within an hour of waking up. For example, today was a 6. I had some energy but was feeling tired. In a day like today, I focused on my engagements.

I didn’t try to do a lot extra because I know I didn’t have the energy for it. In days with lower energy, I would be even more reluctant to engage in certain activities because I need to be functional in the long term.

Short term bouts of going past our energy will mean a longer recovery time and a likelihood of burnout and compassion fatigue. So how do we recognize when we are in a compassion fatigue? The main symptom is going to be numbness.

We feel as though we have no energy left, that helplessness, we feel as though we can no longer relate to people around us. That empathy that was our strength seems to have vanished. We may even feel like bad people or we were just pretending because the empathy now left.

However, we don’t realize the sheer amount of energy that empathy takes and how easy it can go away when we have nothing left in the tank. It is important to realize that and to take a break. It can be a break from work, social media, volunteering, etc...

We need that in order to gather our energy again and regain that empathy. Even if we feel guilty, we can challenge that guilt and continue with taking care of ourselves. When we put others way above ourselves, we no longer have the energy to take care of other people.

That’s why self-care and empathy go hand in hand. Self-care, externalizing and resting are the fuel that keep the empathy going. Without them, it will slowly whither until it is gone. However, that empathy is not gone forever. While it takes time to recover, it is still there.

It is important to take care of yourselves and take time off in order to continue having the energy to fight this crisis and also to value yourselves. Being in touch with our level of energy and planning our day accordingly will do wonders in keeping us fighting longer.

I hope that this clarifies the concept of compassion fatigue and helps you understand it better and taking the time off when necessary to gather that energy for empathy. Love