Compassion Fatigue:
How Burnout Affects Helpers Differently Amidst a Pandemic
Burnout. Exhaustion. Fatigue. Overwhelmed.
These are all markers we may observe in the ones we help based on their daily routines, tone of voice, body language, and overall presentation. We are trained to recognize these traits, help the person potentially become aware of the sources of this vulnerable state, and help them locate the tools to excavate themselves out of this downward spiral.
So what happens when the helpers experience this emotional state? What happens when we recognize these conditions within ourselves but understand that engaging in therapy to manage these conditions may not be possible due to complete burnout across the board in our healthcare profession?
I pride myself in knowing I’m a self-aware, observant, and self-connected human being. Due to many years of taking the position on the couch to understand and better myself, I learned to recognize when I was beginning to become bored in positions, why I perceived things in a certain manner, and typically, I know of a few different mechanisms to be able to dig myself out of the various holes I have once occupied. However, during a pandemic that lasted longer than most of us ever anticipated, I swallowed my pride and confessed I had lost touch with these characteristics, most likely due to the uncertainty we experienced in a multitude of ways during the first year of COVID-19.
At first, I found it difficult to wake up at my normal time and stick to my accustomed schedule. I had been working remotely since before it was cool, so I was used to waking up, drinking a small cup of coffee, doing a short yoga sequence, and going for a run to prepare myself for a full day of answering crisis calls across several different crisis lines. I began skimping on these rituals, procrastinating, and telling myself I would do them after work, not fully comprehending the impact the pre-work routine had on my mental stability and productivity throughout the day. Upon recognizing this pattern, I took a week off from work, knowing that in the past, this would help reset my productivity and motivation for helping others. Unfortunately, my week off from work imposed dread upon returning to work, and I would soon realize it was difficult to perform the simplest of tasks and partake in my usual hobbies outside of work. I was in the midst of burnout, but unlike most other times in my life, I could not pinpoint the cause. Running and yoga became chores instead of hobbies, because these were the only activities keeping me at baseline during this time.
Burnout is real. We, as helpers, often think that as long as we are helping others, we must still be doing alright ourselves, because we couldn’t still be of service to others if we are neglecting ourselves. However, for the past year and a half, most of us have attended our counseling, social work, and crisis-focused jobs in an adrenaline-induced state. We help people and it is difficult, at times, for us to see others hurt. We see a need and we attend to that need until the person seeks safety. We have had little to no reprieve over the last 18 months, as our psychiatric units are just as full as the COVID units and wait lists for treatment centers have stretched out for months, at times, for our clients. For some of us working directly with suicide, we deal with the topic of death on a daily basis at work, while death and sickness became the forefront of media coverage at the beginning of the pandemic. All the while, we still have family members and loved ones to become ill and pass away during this chaotic storm, but we have been so focused on helping others to really process the grief around most of this turmoil. Of course we are exhausted.
My concern is that when we finally get a reprieve from this devastation, most of us in this profession will run out of our adrenaline-induced helping profession energy that allowed us to work through this pandemic resulting in a complete mental collision. Will we be able to recognize our needs before it is too late? What happens when we are left to face the post-storm damage of what could possibly be the most challenging obstacle we have collectively faced together in our lifetime?
If any of this sounds familiar, please take a break. Accept help and rest. Seek out creative hobbies and interests you have probably been neglecting for sometime now. Your clients, patients, and people of concern will still find the help they need. We need you to still be alive and mentally sharp for the days ahead when the storm clouds roll out, the sun is shining brightly, and the clean-up crew is ready for repairs. We are the clean-up crew of the pandemic, long after the COVID wards are empty. Whether you are rebuilding the homes destroyed or picking up litter from the shore, you will be needed when the rest of the world resumes life post-pandemic.
