Compassion Fatigue is emotional and physical exhaustion leading to a diminished ability to empathize or feel compassion for others. It can lead to a sense of apathy toward a mentee’s suffering, as a result of exposure to it.

Vicarious Trauma is emotional residue of exposure that mentors have from working with mentees as they are hearing their stories and become witnesses to pain, fear, and other emotions that their mentees have endured.

Burnout is a physical and emotional exhaustion; a depletion of physical and emotional resources, over a long period of time.

Compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout all have related symptoms and they can coexist.

It is important to learn to recognize the signs and symptoms in yourself and speak up if you need support! You can’t pour from an empty cup – we have to take care of ourselves in order to take care of others.

What to look for?

Emotional Symptoms

Feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, helpless, or powerless when hearing about others’ suffering

Feeling a loss of self-worth and emotional modulation

Feeling anger, irritability, sadness, and/or anxiety

Feeling detached from surroundings or physical or emotional experience

Feeling emotionally, psychologically, or physically exhausted or numb

Having less empathy

Feeling either hypersensitive or insensitive to emotional issues

Having less tolerance for stress

Suffering from depression

Behavioral Symptoms

Self-isolating, withdrawing, avoidance (avoiding stressors and difficult emotions rather than dealing with them)

Using unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as self-medicating, or eating too much or too little

Having relationship conflicts

Feeling less productive or efficient at work

Having reduced pleasure in activities once enjoyed and reduced satisfaction at work

Being short-tempered or driving aggressively

Inability to empathize

Physical Symptoms

Experiencing nausea, dizziness, or headaches

Difficulty sleeping

Being tense, agitated, or on edge

Cognitive Symptoms

Thinking or dwelling constantly about the suffering of others

Having constant self-blame or thoughts of “I should have or I could have done more”

Having belief system changes (such as belief about self, others, world, future) or meaning in life

Having a reduced sense of personal and occupational accomplishment or efficacy

Having difficulty concentrating, focusing, or making decisions

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Compassion Fatigue, Vicarious Trauma, and Burnout