Compassion Fatigue

When Caregivers need care

 

The following article by Tim Jarvis ( Mindwise, 9/09), really describes what a family caregiver experiences.

 

As any of the 50 million Americans caring for an elderly, disabled, or chronically ill loved one knows, the task requires extraordinary endurance, patience, and compassion.

 

All that empathy can backfire, burdening you with the other person’s pain and leaving you, the caregiver, emotionally exhausted and angry.  All of this takes a heavy toll on both you and the patient.  There is a growing concern among physicians and counselors, who call what’s happening: compassion fatigue.

“About 6 to 8 % of physicians and nurses suffer compassion fatigue, “according to Dr. Michael Kearney, the lead author of a report on the subject published this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  Unlike burnout, usually caused by everyday work stresses, compassion fatigue results from taking on the emotional burden of a patient’s agony. In some ways, it’s similar to post-traumatic burden, except that the stress is a reaction to the trauma of another person. As with PTSD, symptoms include irritability, disturbed sleep, anger outbursts, and a desire to avoid anything having to do with the patent’s struggle.

 

For the millions of ordinary people who become caregivers, Dr. Phillip Muskin, professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center, says the most important way to prevent compassion fatigue is simply to recognize that it can occur.  Caring for yourself may seem like a low priority while trying to care for another—but it’s essential for the patient. “knowing that someone is crying for you and feeling your pain, “says Muskin, “really is therapeutic.”

 

5 Ways to Help Yourself

• Mindfulness meditation
• Keeping a journal
• A daily act of self-centering: Providing time and rewarding activities for yourself
• Staying connected to the outside world
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help

At Senior Care Planning Services we recognize the ongoing pressures of taking care of an aging and/or ill loved one.

 

Please call us today to schedule your free phone evaluation today.