Compassion fatigue is a state of exhaustion resulting from prolonged exposure to another person’s emotional pain whereby a person has difficulty maintaining empathy and compassion for others [1606]. It is common not only among AOD workers, but healthcare providers more broadly [1607, 1608]. Compassion fatigue can lead to declines in job performance, productivity and efficiency and may lead AOD workers to feel increasingly helpless, detached, and exhausted, with a reduced ability to empathise with the people in their care. Cynicism, frustration, apathy, or judgemental responses may become increasingly prevalent, and workers may question their beliefs in the context of witnessing significant loss [1609]. Risk factors that have been associated with compassion fatigue include [1610, 1611]:
- Insufficient social support (at work and home).
- Insufficient staff resources, training, or supervision.
- High expectations for quality of care.
- Limited variety in work activities.
- Poor work/life balance.
- High workload or workload intensity.
- Professional isolation.
- Personal history of trauma.
- High level of empathy.
- Maladaptive coping style (e.g., self-criticism).
- Lack of emotional self-awareness.
As is the case for burnout and vicarious trauma, the use of active coping and holistic self-care strategies (described later in this chapter) are important for preventing and managing compassion fatigue.