What is Compassion Fatigue ?
‘Compassion Fatigue’ refers to the phenomenon of lowering of compassion levels in individuals over a period of time. It is also referred to as ‘Secondary Traumatic Stress’ (STS).
This condition is common among individuals working in fields where one sees victims of trauma daily, for example, paramedics, nurses, etc.
There are several symptoms of compassion fatigue that might manifest in the employees’ personal or professional lives. Personal effects include sleeplessness, anhedonia, anxiety, etc. Professional effects include reduced productivity, reduced quality of work, etc.
A point to note about compassion fatigue is that everyone is suffering from the same on one or the other level with the effect of negative news and social media making us less capable of feeling compassion.