The Most Common The Solution To Compassion Fatigue For Educators
Helping our students, friends, family members, and even strangers is one of the backbones of our society. The principles of compassion and looking out for others are taught in nearly every culture and all around the world. No one on this Earth can be as compassionate as possible, in every single situation throughout their entire life. Eventually, you'll either have to limit your compassion to a handful of people so that you are not stretched out too thin. Compassion fatigue is the mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion that comes with working people who are in constant states of distress or trauma (Lerias & Byrne, 2003).
What is compassion fatigue?
If you have never heard of compassion fatigue, it is the numbness, tiredness, burnt-out feeling, or other symptoms that a person can experience when they help others too much. It is common for compassion fatigue to develop in full-time caregivers such as nurses, teachers, police, and firefighters. Compassion fatigue is one of the main reasons why the caregiver turnover rate for people in this industry is so high. Sometimes it is far too emotionally draining and eventually, they may not feel as devoted or attached to their position.
How is Compassion Fatigue affecting your school?
According to Dr. Ollison here are some findings from her research that may help your school.
Women experience more Compassion Fatigue than male teachers.
Compassion Fatigue is more acute with new teachers than with more seasoned; veteran teachers.
Inner-city school teachers working in high-poverty areas experience significant differences in compassion fatigue vs. their suburban counterparts.
High poverty school teachers experience, higher burnout, and higher secondary traumatic stress.
Parents or school site administrators are sometimes the cause of burnout, stress, and compassion fatigue.
Teachers are experiencing secondary trauma from students, school culture, and district climate which makes for a challenging environment.
One of the largest known events in recent history that caused compassion fatigue in tens of thousands of people was 911. Not only did it cause compassion fatigue, but many people who had developed PTSD from previous events in their lives felt their symptoms coming back. However, many people confused the symptoms of compassion fatigue for burnout, which is nowhere near as deep or intrusive (Greenfield & Rebecca, 2013). After multiple types of studies, scientists have found ways to not only alleviate some of the symptoms of compassion fatigue, but they've also found ways to disrupt the development of the petite and prevent the full-on emotional drainage from occurring.
What are the Solutions to compassion Fatigue?
One of the best ways to help fight off compassion fatigue is to be aware of your levels of stress and practice self-care. I would ask my teaching staff, how do you feel on a scale of 1-10, based on their answers we either lead into discussion or thoughts about how our team can help. Another way to combat Compassion Fatigue is to take time for yourself. At one of the schools, we implemented boxing directly after school. At another school, the PTA; allocated money to feed the teachers a great breakfast the first day of every month. A third way is to have an active social life and friends and family to keep in touch with and hang out. Our school started a bowling league and started playing different school educators, this was a fun way to meet new people. Of course, writing/journaling, watching TikTok and laughing, meditating, a spa day, or just taking a long hot shower help as well. Last, is speaking to someone like a therapist or a counselor. This year, several schools brought on more counselors for counseling. Teachers were welcome to receive an allotted time per month to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. We understand that Compassion Fatigue; If left unaddressed can cause extreme mental and physical health challenges (Figley, 1995), We love our teachers and want them to thrive in our schools because they are responsible for the next generation.
References
Greenfield, Rebecca. “The Health Effects of 9/11.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 30 Oct. 2013, https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/09/health-effects-911/338373/.
Jacquelyn Ollison, E. D. (2019, May 11). Compassion fatigue: How California can improve teacher retention. Mindful Schools. Retrieved March 24, 2022, from https://www.mindfulschools.org/inspiration/compassion-fatigue-how-california-can-improve-teacher-retention/
Team, GoodTherapy Editor. “Signs of Compassion Fatigue.” GoodTherapy, GoodTherapy, https://www.goodtherapy.org/for-professionals/business-management/human-resources/article/cost-of-caring-10-ways-to-prevent-compassion-fatigue.
[Image Modified for Education] Journal of Clinical Nursing, Volume: 26, Issue: 23-24, Pages: 4364-4378, First published: 23 February 2017, DOI: (10.1111/jocn.13766)