Compassion Fatigue or Burnout during COVID-19 and Racial Tensions
Ellsworth "Tony" Williams
Florida Veterans Hall of Famer, Proven Leader, Public Servant, Retired Army Combat Veteran
Are you feeling defeated, helpless, and hopeless after the last 4 months of constant negative news on the media and social media? This is called Compassion fatigue and Burnout.
If you are an emotional empath, you feel like you are in an emotional hell with no way out. There is a way out. It is called to stop caring or care less. That is an enigma to a social caring empath. Its worst than an emotional roller coaster, at least in a roller coaster there are times when you are going up. We are currently in a state of constantly moving down.
We are experiencing rapidly changing environment that is unfortunately all negative. We are globally plugged into every negative moment that is occurring real time. The culprit is the media and us. It is like the never satisfying compulsion to read and listen to anything negative. It is “negative gossip” on steroids.
The media is faithfully following the “If it Bleeds, it Leads” business programming model. Some call it “Click bait”.
What can we do to stop this overwhelming feeling of helplessness?
According to the American Institute of Stress, the recommend the following to help reduce symptoms of Compassion fatigue or Burnout.
Do:
Find someone to talk to.
Understand that the pain you feel is normal.
Exercise and eat properly.
Get enough sleep.
Take some time off.
Develop interests outside of medicine.
Identify what’s important to you.
Don’t:
Blame others.
Look for a new job, buy a new car, get a divorce or have an affair.
Fall into the habit of complaining with your colleagues.
Hire a lawyer.
Work harder and longer.
Self-medicate.
Neglect your own needs and interests.
Please share this to someone you know is possibly experience “Compassion Fatigue or Burnout. If you have other recommendations please comment below
Empowering you to create a life you LOVE living - NOW and in retirement.
4 年Ellsworth "Tony" Williams thank you for sharing this. I can always use a reminder. Fortunately I eat healthy food (well. yesterday I treated myself to a root beer float) and I exercise. Exercise keeps me sane. If I don't exercise, I get depressed. I've also started taking more breaks to rest and to get off of social media. Friends like you help too!
The Oprah of Federal Contracting at Solvability, Inc. Founder of GovConSummit, a virtual accelerator network for small businesses in federal contracting, especially veteran entrepreneurs who hire veterans.
4 年Ellsworth "Tony" Williams this is a reminder that we all need. It's hard not to feel cooped up and alone! For working parents - they've taken on the added stress of working, maintaining careers and having the kids at home more. For people like me who are single and work from home - it's been a challenge to stay engaged with projects when our world has changed so drastically. This is great advice!
Strategist for Small Business ◆ Purposefully Profitable Practitioner ◆ International Speaker ◆ Best Selling Author
4 年Ellsworth "Tony" Williams Self-care is important and what you feed yourself mentally and physically determines your health. I choose to seek out sources that are positive and pose an element of something I can control. I intentionally look for the good news stories and there are plenty of them out there. The perspective outlined in your article requires us to take counter-intuitive steps, but I have found that they are, in fact, effective. If I see a negative news story, I disconnect my emotional lens and put on my critical thinking hat...challenge assumptions, question authority.