Emotional overload

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We all know that compassion is an essential emotion in a work environment, especially in team-based situations, but the physiological impact of supporting colleagues can take its toll – especially with so many challenges occurring in the UK economy.

Let’s talk about the consequences of compassion fatigue in the workplace, and what businesses can do to support employees and prevent them from feeling unable to cope.

Defining compassion fatigue

First coined in 1992, compassion fatigue originally related to the context of medical workers, where over-exposure to trauma led to health problems for the nurses and worsened outcomes for patients.

But it’s since also been applied to the general population, working in other challenging roles, as compassion fatigue can be applied to any role when the triggers and stresses of your job affect your everyday thoughts, mood and wellbeing. Some individuals describe the feeling of becoming so saturated with distressing scenes that a kind of psychic numbing occurs.

Other factors, which appear to contribute towards compassion fatigue include the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, uncertainty caused by global conflict and living in an age of omnipresent social media.

Research suggests a highly effective treatment for compassion fatigue is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), as being exposed to chronic suffering can affect your thought patterns

The impact on individuals

Compassion fatigue can have both a physical and emotional impact on individuals. Firstly, acts of caring and feeling decrease. Individuals become more task- and less emotion-focused, and may start to isolate themselves, engaging less with their colleagues and teams.

In the short term, compassion fatigue can underlie several physical health complaints, including headaches and migraines, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Over the longer term, compassion fatigue could contribute towards the onset of long-term health conditions.

If leaders do not put support packages in place for struggling employees, the impact of compassion fatigue could be huge

A person may experience mood swings from moderate to severe, which, in turn, disturbs the ability to think clearly, modulate emotions and maintain hope. All of these elements can contribute to stress-related mental health difficulties, like anxiety or depression, or short-term symptoms such as brain fog or forgetfulness in the workplace and at home.

The impact on UK workplaces

If leaders do not put support packages in place for struggling employees, the impact of compassion fatigue could be huge. Firstly, it can give rise to uncontrollable negative emotions, like anger, annoyance and intolerance.

These symptoms often lead to interpersonal problems, including difficulties getting along with colleagues and a disconnection with their workplaces. The ability to think clearly, use good judgement and make decisions may decline and it becomes difficult to concentrate on tasks.

Work habits and patterns can become increasingly unpredictable. With some employees, businesses will see an increase in sick days, leave of absence or less time spent in the office. On the flip side, others may spend more time at work, trying to keep up, or will take work home with them, as they struggle to concentrate and are less productive during office hours.

What can workplaces do to help?

A big first step to tackling compassion fatigue is developing training to address the emotional impact of work roles. Invite mental health experts to hold employee seminars, which cover the stress response, emotional resilience and self-compassion. This shows that conversations around poor emotional wellbeing are not only welcomed, but expected.

Leaders also need to eliminate behaviours, which could make employees more anxious or stressed. For example, if bosses are answering emails at 10pm, there’s an unwritten expectation that others should too.

Managers should consider removing their work email from their phones and encouraging their teams to do the same. Observe consistent cut-off times for work, and your team will follow.

Demonstrate that break times throughout the day are valuable, like taking an outdoor walk and sitting down for lunch, instead of inhaling a sandwich at your desk. These seemingly small changes will encourage employees to recharge, prioritise self-care and focus less on factors driving negative behaviours.

Research suggests a highly effective treatment for compassion fatigue is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), as being exposed to chronic suffering can affect your thought patterns too. Employers may want to consider adding emotional wellbeing support like this to their employee benefits packages to support those who are already struggling.

A CBT therapist can help employees recognise current lapses in self-care and boundary setting. They can also help someone to understand and respond to their symptoms or experiences differently, which, over time, improves a sense of wellbeing and quality of life.

Marc Holl is head of primary care for Nuffield Health.

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