Caregiver Burnout vs Compassion Fatigue: The Difference
Caregiving is a big responsibility that can be stressful, especially for family caregivers. Burnout is one possible result of prolonged stress. Compassion fatigue is also a serious potential consequence of caregiver stress.
In this article, we:
- Describe caregiver burnout and compassion fatigue
- List their symptoms
- Outline the differences between them
- Provide ideas for managing stress to avoid becoming burned out or fatigued
If you need more help managing caregiving stress, check if you have free access to all of Trualta’s caregiver resources, support groups, forum, and more.
What Is Caregiver Burnout?
Caregiver burnout is a physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion resulting from prolonged stress experienced when providing care. Family caregivers are especially vulnerable to burnout for several reasons:
- They’re often unpaid and take on caregiving responsibilities while also working.
- They don’t always have help with home care and are often the primary caregiver.
- Family caregivers are usually not trained for caregiving duties.
- They are caring for a loved one. Watching them decline, especially in cases of dementia, can take a major emotional toll.
Signs & Symptoms of Caregiver Burnout
Anyone providing care is at risk for burnout. Family caregivers are often unprepared for the home care role and struggle to manage their responsibilities. This can lead to caregiver burnout. It’s important to recognize the signs, so you can take steps to manage burnout and recover.
Feeling Overwhelmed
Stress is normal in the caregiving role. You have a lot of responsibility, and the stakes are high. Your loved one’s wellness and quality of life depend on your care. This can feel stressful and overwhelming at times.
It’s not normal to feel stressed all the time when providing home care. Chronic stress is the underlying cause of caregiver burnout. If you feel constantly stressed and overwhelmed by your role, you could be headed for burnout.
Exhaustion
You can recover and rebound from normal tiredness or fatigue with rest or sleep. Burnout is a state of deep exhaustion that does not get better with rest. It can be physical fatigue, but also emotional and mental exhaustion that you can’t seem to get relief from.
Poor Physical Health
Many caregivers struggle to take time for their own health and wellness. This can lead to poor physical health, getting sick more often, insomnia, and frequent issues like headaches or digestive problems. You should be concerned if you don’t find time to rest, get enough sleep, eat well, or exercise.
Mental Health Symptoms
According to research, caregivers suffer from depression at higher rates than the general public. They’re vulnerable to other mental health symptoms as well, like anxiety. Leaving these unmanaged can easily lead to burnout. Caregivers with burnout often feel sad, hopeless, and overwhelmed.
Another troubling mental health symptom associated with burnout is anger. Burned-out caregivers often feel resentful and angry toward their care recipients. This can lead to outbursts and even abuse.
Isolation & Withdrawal
Caregiving can be isolating, but if you find time to spend with family and friends, they can provide important support. Deepening isolation and withdrawal from normal activities are key characteristics of caregiver burnout.
What Is Compassion Fatigue?
Compassion fatigue may occur with caregiver burnout, but it isn’t the same. It is often referred to as the cost of caring, vicarious trauma, or secondary trauma. Compassion fatigue is rooted in empathy, the ability to understand and feel someone else’s emotions. It’s like putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.
Empathy is a hallmark of a good caregiver, but it can also lead to compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue is secondary traumatic stress and exhaustion. After being exposed to the traumatic experiences of another, such as the care recipient, the person with compassion fatigue begins to lose the ability to empathize, nurture, or provide care.
Caregivers are susceptible to compassion fatigue because they care for people who are sick or struggling. Anyone in a job that requires empathy and compassionate caregiving can be at risk: medical professionals, first responders, and veterinarians, for instance.
In caregiving, family caregivers may have a higher risk. They may feel the suffering of their loved ones more intensely than professional caregivers.
Signs & Symptoms of Compassion Fatigue
Compassion fatigue is different from, but related to, caregiver burnout. Both can be harmful to the caregiver and the care recipient. If you struggle to empathize, you cannot provide the best care. Your loved one may suffer more as a result.
Know the signs of compassion fatigue before they arise:
- You feel less caring, sympathetic, and empathetic toward your loved one. In deep compassion fatigue, you might feel no empathy at all.
- You feel detached from your care recipient. This feels like emotional numbness.
- Your approach to your caregiving tasks becomes more focused on just getting the job done and less on providing care or comfort.
- You struggle to function, think clearly, or complete your usual tasks.
- You get angry easily and are more irritable, cynical, and resentful. You may experience mood swings, outbursts, fear, sadness, and hopelessness.
- You become socially isolated and withdrawn, both from your care recipient and others.
- You feel deeply exhausted, physically, mentally, and emotionally, even with rest.
The last sign of compassion fatigue is similar to the experience of caregiver burnout. This type of exhaustion is different from the normal sensation of being tired or fatigued. It’s not relieved by rest or sleep, and it can even make sleep more difficult.
What Are The Key Differences?
While compassion fatigue and caregiver burnout are very similar, there are important differences. Both result from providing care, but the real underlying causes are a little different, as are the timing and some of the symptoms.
Compassion Fatigue Is More Emotional
In both causes and symptoms, compassion fatigue is more emotional than physical, while burnout can be both.
- Burnout results from ongoing stress from several sources: Being overworked, lack of caregiving training, inadequate sleep, and more.
- Compassion fatigue is caused by emotional exposure to difficult situations. It arises after repeated exposure to someone else’s suffering, trauma, or grief. While burnout is triggered by all kinds of stress, compassion fatigue’s underlying cause is specifically secondary traumatic stress.
The symptoms of compassion fatigue are also more emotional.
- Burnout causes both emotional pain and physical symptoms.
- Compassion fatigue can result in physical symptoms because, like burnout, it involves a buildup of stress. Chronic compassion stress lowers immune function and can cause certain physical symptoms, like pain.
Compassion Fatigue Can Occur Suddenly
Caregiver burnout builds slowly, over time. It results from chronic stress. You might cope well initially, but as stressors pile up, you slowly get burned out. This is one reason burnout can be so harmful. It’s not always easy to notice when it’s happening.
Compassion fatigue can build slowly, but it also often occurs quickly. You might suddenly lose empathy after prolonged exposure to your care recipient’s difficulties and suffering. Compassion fatigue can also arise quickly after one significant traumatic event.
Burnout Does Not Cause Loss Of Empathy
This is the most important difference between compassion fatigue and caregiver burnout. There is otherwise a lot of crossover, but this is the key characteristic of compassion fatigue.
Burnout can make it more difficult to provide good care, but you should still feel compassion, satisfaction, and a sense of wanting to care, even if you cannot. You still feel empathetic toward your loved one.
In compassion fatigue, you see this feeling of empathy decline and ultimately disappear. It feels like you no longer care. Both situations can make it difficult or impossible to provide care, but the underlying reasons are different.
Managing Burnout & Compassion Fatigue
If possible, it’s best to recognize and address early signs of burnout and compassion fatigue. This helps you get back on track before entering a state of deep exhaustion and lack of empathy.
Whether you’re experiencing burnout, compassion fatigue, or both, the most important thing you can do is take a break from care. Respite care is a service you should use early and often on your caregiving journey. Let someone else take over for short periods so that you can rest and manage your own health.
Support groups, used early and often, can also make a big difference to your mental health. A caregiver support group allows you to share difficult feelings in a safe space. Expressing these to people who understand your situation can be powerful for stress relief. You can also get advice and learn in support groups, making your role easier.
Burnout and compassion fatigue are serious mental health issues. If you cannot find relief, you may need professional support. A mental health professional can help you work through your feelings, find coping strategies for stress and depression, and find practical solutions to balancing your role as a caregiver and your own wellness.
Don’t forget to check if you have free access to Trualta’s caregiver resources, support groups, and forum to help you cope.
References
- American Heart Association. (2024). What is caregiver burnout?
- Family Caregiver Alliance. (n.d.). Caregiver depression: A silent health crisis.
- Stoewen, D. L. (2020). Moving from compassion fatigue to compassion resilience Part 4: Signs and consequences of compassion fatigue. Canadian Veterinary Journal, 61(11), 1207–1209.
- National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners. (n.d.). Caregiver burnout vs. compassion fatigue: What’s the difference?
