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What is compassion fatigue?
Compassion fatigue is a state of emotional exhaustion particularly for those in helping professions, such as first responders, which impacts an individual’s ability to feel compassion towards others, including friends, family members, and even victims of crime or other serious incidents.
Over their career, first responders may respond to thousands of calls which often are repeat incidents. It can be difficult and even disheartening to witness and intercede in incidents, especially those that involve repeat offenders and victims. Over time, police officers and first responders may notice that they dread attending certain calls, or that they no longer feel as empathetic towards victims. These may be some of the early signs that you are experiencing compassion fatigue.
Who experiences compassion fatigue?
Anyone can experience compassion fatigue. First responders, who naturally use compassion as a tool in their toolkit to support and protect communities, may experience it after depleting their compassion “stores” due to their line of work. Compassion fatigue occurs when individuals are regularly feeling and showing compassion (e.g., supporting others, being a shoulder to cry on, protecting victims) without actively refilling their compassion stores.
Compassion fatigue does not mean that you are uncompassionate; it just means that you might need a top-up to your compassion “bucket” to get back to your baseline. But where does that refill start?
Why does self–compassion matter?
Having compassion for others starts with having compassion for ourselves. Prioritizing self-care and disconnecting from work can help to protect you from compassion fatigue. First responders are known for giving everything they have to their community and asking for nothing in return. But what happens when they have nothing left to give? They may feel exhausted, irritable, anxious or sad.
Disconnecting from work, and the situations and individuals who draw out compassion from you, is an important part of self care, and connecting with the things and people you love can help to refill your compassion stores.
Using a functional disconnection and reconnection in your life
Functional disconnection and reconnection are achieved with a purpose in mind. It is about putting on your psychological armour in order to do the job but then removing it when it’s time to reconnect with “you” at the end of the shift. The Ontario Provincial Police Healthy Workplace Team recommends the four following actions to help you disconnect and reconnect as needed:
- Literally and metaphorically remove your uniform at the end of your shift. This can happen when you step out of your workstation and back into your own car. Intentionally, take a moment to get comfortable. Adjust your music, chew your favorite gum, roll down the windows, whatever helps you feel like you.
- Acknowledge all that happened today. Take the first five or ten minutes of your commute to mull over anything that is sticking with you and accept how these experiences make you feel. If negative thoughts or self-criticism come up, try re-wording your thoughts to how you would speak to a friend or loved one. Exercise self-compassion by giving yourself grace and understanding.
- Establish a landmark. Choose a point on your commute home that represents switching back into your “home” mindset. When you reach that point, visualize disconnecting from the stress of your day, and then focus on reconnecting to things that are important to you outside of work. Think about things like your dinner plans, kids' sports schedules or upcoming holidays. The goal is to ease your mind back into “home mode”.
- When you reach your destination, take a moment to relax before heading into your home. Try deep breathing or put on one final song to reconnect to yourself and your family. When you feel ready, step outside and enjoy your time at home with family, friends, pets and other loved ones.
Taking this time to disconnect from work, reconnect to home, and process emotions from the day can help you to avoid compassion fatigue. Exercising self-compassion by working through your potentially negative or critical thoughts, while also providing time and space to prioritize your mental health and well-being is critical. Leaving your own mental health to the last is never the right option. Like putting on an oxygen mask in an airplane, you need to take care of yourself before you can effectively help others. Ignoring your needs, especially for an extended period, may risk burning out or emptying your compassion “bucket”.
Additional Resources:
Self Compassion Practices
How to Practice Self Compassion
References:
Germer, C. & Neff, K. (2022, October 19). The transformative effects of mindful self-compassion. Mindful.
Lee, V. (n.d.). You're allowed to be human: The role of self-compassion. CAMH.
McElheran, M. & Stelnicki, A. (2021). Functional disconnection and reconnection: an alternative strategy to stoicism in public safety personnel. European Journal of Psychotraumatology
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Book Review: If They Only Knew: A Cop’s Journey with Addiction and Mental Health
As someone who has worked closely with many police officers for more than two decades and spent five years engaged in doctoral research on what makes police officers “tick,” I have often found that officers find it difficult to talk about personal mental health and addiction issues. I attribute much of that to the deeply engrained police culture that demands “toughness” in the face of what cops deal with “on the job”.
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Evaluative Thinking about Strategic Business Planning in Policing
What is strategic management and why is it important? Strategic management is the execution of a plan; it is dynamic, continuous, and involves the coordination of resources across an organization. Done well, it means a plan made an impact towards things that matter and did so efficiently.
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Honouring Canada’s Female Police Officers and Personnel
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it is important to recognize the remarkable contributions of female police officers and civilian members across Canada. These dedicated professionals play a pivotal role in maintaining public safety, upholding justice, and fostering community trust.
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FASD-Informed Training for Police Officers
More than 10 years ago, on behalf of the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS), I assisted in the creation of the Reach For It! Program – a recreational program that partners police officers with youth who have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
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The Traumatic Impacts and Induced Stress of Policing
Police work is stressful. Police service members, whether sworn or civilian, can be exposed to trauma, including fatalities, violent crimes, accidents, and domestic situations.
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What We Can Learn in Policing from Wildfires
I had trouble figuring out where to begin this year’s renewed version of the Police Leadership Program. The challenge was too many options. The leadership issues in policing today range all the way, for example, from community mental health to organizational budgeting to technical skill development.
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The Complexity of Police Leadership
Yet leadership effectiveness is, simply put, about people understanding people. It is a skillset that can be learned, and that depends quite simply on leaders investing in themselves. With social-scientific discoveries, self-awareness, and powers of observation and communication, leaders can pull others together around a common goal. Among others, the below three skill sets help to get you there:
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Countering Incivility, Harassment, and Discrimination in Policing
Creating a workplace environment that is inclusive, respectful, and free from harassment and discrimination is an ongoing priority for ontario police services. However, services face systemic challenges in their efforts to prevent these negative behaviours, effectively address them, and change their culture.
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The Leadership Imperative: Leader development in Ontario
Modern policing is complex. Whether mediating a dispute or managing a crisis, it’s a job that not only requires a deep understanding of the law and society, but also the ability to lead with confidence and compassion.
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THE FUTURE OF LEADERSHIP IN POLICING
Under the leadership of Chief Jim MacSween, the executive leadership team at York Regional Police (YRP) established a mission to re-imagine leadership development within the organization. YRP knew that standardizing leadership principles and delivering them to all ranks of the organization would enrich the development of ethical and professional leaders.
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Connect, Lead, Inspire
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