The Mental Emotional Health Blog

Compassion fatigue is what I call a long-term reaction to providing care. This can happen in health care providers, emergency personnel, personal caregivers, and other situations. The term “Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder” is also used to describe this condition. I think that sounds scarier than compassion fatigue, but if it gets a caregiver’s or provider’s attention enough to watch out for and prevent the signs, then I suppose that term is useful.

Compassion fatigue happens after focusing on others’ needs over a long period of time without practicing enough appropriate self-care. Caring for others can give energy and take away energy in general, but over time the energy can drain away and the caregiver can become less compassionate or can feel burned out.

A good website for this condition is here .  The bottom line is:  if you are providing care for others, take care of yourself. Taking care of yourself includes decent eating and rest habits, and probably walking or an exercise program.

I have been guilty of slacking on these at times, and as a clinical therapist I can attest that sometimes I have gotten worn out. Taking care of myself after I haven’t for a while helps me bounce back fairly well. It’s amazing what proper rest, eating, and some regular working out can do to rejuvenate. Vacations are nice too. Most important is breaking up your routine if it is becoming a grind.

Take care of yourself!

Hello to my loyal readers. I apologize for not posting much lately. Life got busier than usual the last couple weeks.

Please look for a new post next week.

 Thank you and take care, everyone!

Devin

Those who decide and commit to grow up, will.

Those who wait until they grow up, won’t.

A previous post here at MentalEmotionalHealth.com was entitled, “How To Accept Compliments” . That was mainly intended for people who might need to think of themselves more positively.

Today, I’ll take that a step further. In a relationship or friendship when one person compliments the other, there is an under-appreciated need to accept the compliment. This isn’t for the receiver, it’s for the giver.

Typically, when a person says something nice about someone else (especially someone close), the giving of the compliment is either ignored, minimized, dismissed, or reinforced. If the pattern is established that the receiver will almost always use the first three, and usually won’t reinforce the giving of the compliment, then the giver will tend to give less compliments over time. That and the giver gets more frustrated.

Compliments really are free most of the time. But even if there is some ulterior motive like you’re being set up or manipulated into feeling good about yourself, what’s wrong with that? If you suspect manipulation, accept the compliment first anyway.

If you want to feel better about yourself, acknowledge and accept nice things people say to you. You are not bragging because you are not making anything up or drawing attention to yourself. Someone else is paying positive attention towards you. That’s nice!

If you want to see your relationship/friendship improve quickly and feel more comfortable, acknowledge and accept compliments more. By offering a little positive reinforcement, you’ll both feel better.

Do you consider the glass to be half-empty, half-full, or full with a leak that needs refilling each day?