When compassion fatigue strikes - Dandelion Training & Development

When we are supporting the emotional needs and mental health of others, we can find that caring for ourselves can fall by the wayside. When the balance of self-care and working practice is not well managed and monitored, it can quickly fall out of balance and cause a wide number of implications.

The nature of supporting another person’s mental and emotional well-being, is that it is a one-way transaction. This relies of the adult (or sometimes young person) being expected to have empathy, compassion and patience, with no expectation of receiving this in return, can lead to feelings of overwhelm and burnout. Research indicates that parents supporting a child with mental health issues are at increased risk of their own mental health issues, and of experiencing negative emotions including self-blame, anger and frustration.

Overwhelm, relates to a sense of ‘excessive demand’ in that what is required of us, outweighs the amount of time or ability that we feel that we have. Signs of initial overwhelm may be:

Lacking energy to perform the tasks required
Mental blocks or resistance to complete tasks
Hiding or avoiding work
Declining motivation
Growing pessimism
Reduced confidence or self-esteem
Increased self-doubt
Questioning your abilities, skills or capability
A sense that work is ‘taking over’
Resentment that you have no time for yourself
Feelings of anxiety
Fatigue or tiredness
Feeling tense
Feeling irritable, frustrated or agitated
Feeling bad, negative or low
Falling into a bad mood quickly
Physical symptoms – headaches, neck pain, muscle tension, stomach aches, muscle tightness

These symptoms, when unmanaged or supported, can prevent us from caring for ourselves, and also providing adequate support for the person we are working with. Therefore, we need to consider how we create balance in our work and personal lives.

Selfcare

Positive self-care includes:

Having clear boundaries between work and personal life
Getting enough sleep to feel sufficiently rested
Maintaining a healthy diet
Having regular physical exercise
Getting regular daylight
Having regular social contact
Having a strong daily morning routine
Having regular opportunities for fun and to make memories
Having time off technology and screens

In order to ensure self-care, we need to include self-awareness and self- reflection in our own working practices. This can include:

Monitoring and reviewing our work hours
Ensuring strong working practices are in place
Ensuring we utilise supervision for impartial and non-judgemental advice
Implementing daily/weekly self- care practices
Pre-planning annual leave
Reflecting on the areas of our life and our satisfaction of these

Who can help?

We can take our self-care needs to supervision, work with a coach or through a self-development programme. Taking time to ensure that we are checking in, on a regular basis and reviewing our balance of time allows us to manage our own needs more effectively and reduce the risk of overwhelm.

Want to learn more?

If you want to learn more about mental health, you can join our Level 4 training (here) or keep an eye out for our new courses coming soon (here).

Further help

For more articles about mental health visit – ARTICLES

To learn more about child and adolescent mental health visit – COURSES

For resources to support child and adolescent mental health visit –RESOURCES