Have you ever heard of the term, "compassion fatigue"? It's an interesting phrase, that came into public discourse about ten years ago, give or take a few years. And it generally means the burnout that the public gets from being continually poked and prodded by the media to care about a particular hot topic of the day. For example, if an earthquake or a hurricane strikes, and day after day the casual viewer, or reader, gets bombarded with stories about hard-hit victims, down on their luck, and continual pleas from organizations like the Red Cross and others to give, and make the victims' lives easier. (No slam against the Red Cross here, just using it as an example.) The concept is that on Day One, Mr. or Ms. Casual Observer may actually care, may have his or her heartstrings tugged, may dig deep into his or her wallet to contribute to the cause. But by Day Whatever -- name one a few days subsequent -- Mr. or Ms. Casual Observer no longer cares, and in fact is irritated by the repeated pleas for charity and concern. They basically want to get back to their lives, and whatever pool of interest in the story initially, and common concern for their fellow man, has since dried up. "Compassion fatigue" comes from pushing the same button too many times -- eventually it sticks in the closed position.
Why talk about "compassion fatigue" here? For two reasons.
One, we're in it for the long haul, with returning veterans and combat trauma / PTSD. While media attention currently is heavily focused on the topic -- great! -- it hasn't always been so (Vietnam, or even way more recently than that -- last year at this time, for instance) -- and it won't always continue to be so. Other stories will "bump" combat trauma off the news, but the problem, very significantly, will not be going away. We'll just hear about it less, over time, because news media and the unconcerned public (those not affected by it directly, and those who don't care, period) will lose interest. Significantly, though, the problem will not go away, just because at times we'll hear less about it.
Two, compassion fatigue is actually a risk for caregivers. It's another definition of the same term, and it's a problem of the secondary stress created by something like caring for someone with combat trauma or PTSD. Caregivers, too, burnout: whether they are spouses, family members, or even therapeutic providers. In fact, "compassion fatigue" among caregivers is a topic in its own right, that some psychologists have studied and written about. There are resources out there for that, too. So if you're caring for someone with PTSD or other battle-related, combat injuries, be aware that burnout is a very real risk. Someone has to take care of the caregiver, too. Make sure that you're doing what you can to get adequate rest, nutrition, and stress release of your own. Because caring for someone injured is an extremely difficult task (notice, we did not say "burden"), with physical and psychological costs of its own, not to mention financial, so please be sure to get adequate support for yourself, if you find yourself in this role. It's basically a given that your work is stressful. Support is not a given, so please do what you can to find it. And if you know someone who's caring for a wounded or injured veteran, please do what you can to lighten their load, in whatever supportive way you can find to contribute. The veteran and his or her family will be grateful.
Compassion fatigue? There may come a time when we burn out on this topic as a nation (let's hope not, but we may); however, for those caring for an injured veteran, compassion and care will undoubtedly take its toll. Let's do what we can to help.
