Compassion Fatigue

There is an aspect to ministry of which people seldom speak.  Compassion fatigue.  These two words make sense to many of those in caring professions, though we don't hear too much about it.  One of the more succinct definitions is that compassion fatigue is a growing indifference to appeals for aid or assistance on behalf of those who are suffering due to the high frequency of those appeals.  In other words, there comes a point when you are so aware and saturated with requests for help that you find yourself beginning to be less and less compassionate.   

This is sometimes called "secondary traumatic stress" or STS where people who have to deal with trauma victims or persons who have experienced some kind of overwhelming issue eventually find their patience and compassion decreasing.  Not only this, but people who suffer from compassion fatigue begin to exhibit symptoms that mirror deep depression: a feeling of hopelessness, a decrease in the ability to be happy, the feeling of constant stress, sleeplessness, and a growing negative attitude.  People who have this fatigue begin to lose focus on their work and personal lives as well as feelings of self-doubt and worthlessness.

Persons who work as clinical counselors or those who find themselves hearing bad news and people's problems and complicated situations begin to find that it becomes harder and harder to relate to both their clients or patients as well as their own family who, as is often the case, don't quite understand the reason for the pulling away.  Part of that stress comes from the fact that many of these professions prevent the counselor, pastor, therapist, and so on to be able to tell anyone else about what it is they hear on a regular basis.  They have to hold it in.

And that builds up.

I would suggest that in these hyper-polarized times in our own country, the public may be suffering from compassion fatigue as well.  After a while it becomes hard to care.  It becomes hard to get as worked up over the most recent shooting when you hoped and prayed that the last five or six would be the ones that would turn the tide.  It becomes hard to think about the homeless here or there or across the world when it gets put in your face right outside your door.  It becomes hard to care especially when it appears no one else cares either.

It doesn't just have to be from the trauma or overabundance of bad news or political excrement we find ourselves burdened with to cause compassion fatigue.  It can come from a lack of response by others to our own compassion or even our own passions.

A microcosmic example: a pastor works for weeks to prepare a Bible study or a program that she or he feels passionate about.  It is well promoted, well planned, and then when the day arrives to begin?  No interest from the congregation.  It becomes hard to care about putting together the next event when it doesn't appear the congregation is responding to the current event.

On a global scale, we hear so many impassioned pleas for aid, for assistance, and for attention.  We can only answer to so many.  We can only give so much.  It wears us down.  And if we aren't careful, we find that we have worn ourselves out to the point of complete indifference.  We find ourselves saying things like "I just don't care."  The problem isn't the statement.  The problem is the fact that it isn't true: we do care.  We just can't care at the moment.  We are overloaded.

As individuals and as society, when we reach that point the danger isn't the indifference, it is the perpetuation of the indifference.  If we become so indifferent, then we may well find that the polarizing message of partisan media, hostile extremism, or even judgmental religion begins to appeal because it begins to teach you that you don't need to care about anyone other than yourself.

The irony is that compassion fatigue comes about most strongly because we aren't taking care of ourselves.  If we were, we would learn to know our limits.  "The poor will always be with you," said Jesus.  It was a reminder that there is always more to be done.  But we can't believe we can do it all.  If we do we are headed for a bright flash of light headed by a tremendous burnout.