EF training Ltd

First written about in the late 1980s by American Traumatologist, Charles Figley, Compassion Fatigue is the “inevitable consequence of being immersed every day in other people’s trauma and suffering”. When you witness another person’s suffering your nervous system assumes that this ‘trauma’ is also happening to you and so initiates the flight and fight response. You can do neither as your job is to stay calm and cope, so you repress the feelings and carry on. However, the physical and emotional reaction does not go away and unless you deal with these feelings they build up over time leading to the symptoms of Compassion Fatigue. ​ What are the symptoms? In many ways, the symptoms mirror those of the people or animals you are trying to help. These include feelings of acute anxiety, being unable to rest or relax and feeling that you need to be at work all the time as you are the only one who is capable of doing the job well. It can also manifest itself as feeling constantly irritable and short tempered, unable to sleep or feeling very withdrawn and detached. Your immune system is also affected by the constant stress, so some people experience multiple minor illnesses or constant headaches and back pain. ​