Is Compassion Fatigue Even a Thing?

You are constantly tired, you feel like you are barely holding it all together, you are emotionally fried 99% of the time, and you can’t remember the last time you felt fully yourself. You feel pulled in so many different directions that you are afraid it all might literally pull you apart.

Most of your time and energy is spent taking care of other people and you have a hard time picturing what self-care would even look like. Every now and then, someone tells you that you should take some time for yourself, but in the same breath, they ask you to do something.

Maybe it is a common case of over-committing, or maybe...you are suffering from compassion fatigue.

“Compassion what? Is that even a thing? It sounds made up.”

Oh it’s a thing. And it is time to start talking about it.

Compassion fatigue is defined as:

: the physical and mental exhaustion and emotional withdrawal experienced by those that care for sick or traumatized people over an extended period of time; fatigue, emotional distress, or apathy resulting from the constant demands of caring for others

 Mental exhaustion? Emotional withdrawal? Physical fatigue and emotional distress?

Those all sound pretty serious. It sounds like this is something that could be stealing more from your life than you may even notice.

Many people in helping professions spend so much of their time, energy, and resources pouring into their patients, clients, partners, and others in their lives that they often neglect the important work of self-care. Others exhibit a natural “caregiver” energy that can become a double-edged sword, if not kept in check.

Without clearly defined boundaries, it can be easy to fall into the pattern of giving, giving, giving until there is nothing left of yourself. When we give more than we actually have the capacity to give, it is like trying to water a garden with an empty canteen. It just doesn’t work.

But there is another way! Bringing balance, boundaries, and burnout resilience tactics into your life will absolutely change how you experience your relationships, your work, your hobbies, your spiritual practices, and your relationship with yourself.

The opposite of compassion fatigue is PASSIONATE OVERFLOW. When you are living a life of passionate overflow, everything you do is a natural and effortless overflow out of who you are.

While making the shift from doing and striving to being and thriving can be difficult, it is an infinitely valuable and transformative journey. And I want to partner with you to guide you out of apathy, exhaustion, emotional distress, and the suffering of striving.

It’s time to take a deep dive into your WHO, your HOW, and your WHAT and begin peeling back the layers of fatigue to reveal a self that you love and a life that is worth living.

Want to experience PASSIONATE OVERFLOW?

Let’s leap - together.

-s