Compassion fatigue is an issue worth confronting.
Most professional caregivers suffer from compassion fatigue once, at a minimum, during their career.
40% to 85% of helping professionals experience some form of compassion fatigue or traumatic symptoms. Left unaddressed, it’s contributing to many of the crises faced by the United States today.
Mental Health Crisis
Depression is listed by WHO as one of the most critical factors contributing to global disability and the main contributor to suicide deaths of all ages.
In a 2021 study of 342 emergency department physicians and nurses, 100% of the participants reported depressive symptoms.
Up to 90% of mental health therapists report their emotional difficulties being directly linked to their role as a therapist.
In a study by Kessler et al. (1995), 15.2% of respondents reported experiencing symptoms of compassion fatigue in the preceding week at a level that met the diagnostic criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The lifetime prevalence of PTSD in the general population due to all traumas is 7.8%.
Obesity and Chronic Disease
A lack of self-care habits increases the prevalence of obesity an contributes to the rising prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, gastrointestinal problems, compromise immune systems, and sleep disorders.
Substance Use and Alcohol Abuse
Helping professionals are 3.5x more likely to have substance use disorders.
Gun control and Violence
In 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that healthcare workers make up more than ¾ of all workplace violence nationwide and are almost 4x more likely to suffer a severe injury from workplace violence than workers in any other workplace setting.
It’s getting worse.
Approximately 75% of professionals nationwide report psychological distress, yet, 8 out of 10 report shame and stigma preventing helpseeking.
In fact, it’s killing us:
In 2022, 170 police officers died by suicide, a 3% increase from the previous year, and 37% of surveyed 1st responders contemplated suicide compared to the 3.7% national average.
Professionals can’t get the help they need
Psychologist's reports of inability to keep up with patient demand increased from 30% in 2020 to 41% in 2021 to 46% in 2022 (APA survey)
It’s costing us more than we can afford.
An additional 1.2 million people aged 16 and over wereidentified as having mental and physical “disabilities” in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic leading to increased government spending.
National Child Protective Services social worker turnover rates average 30% per year, though individual agency rates have neared 100% The agency cost of replacing oneexisting Child Protective Service social worker was estimated to be as high as $54,000, with one new employee training costing more than the average state tuition for a bachelor’s degree.
It’s impacting our mission and tenet of "Do no harm.”
Compassion fatigue leads to decreased compassion in care, resulting in lowerclient satisfaction, hindering judgment and decision-making and increasing the risk of errors, and misdiagnosis, creating incivility, and negative public perception and trust.
