Compassion Fatigue vs. Burnout: Are They The Same Thing?

 Feeling exhausted, irritable, or disconnected—and not sure if it’s burnout or something else? In this episode, I break down the similarities and key differences between compassion fatigue and burnout so you can recognize the signs, understand the causes, and begin to heal. As a mission-driven leader, your work matters—and so do you. I’ll also share 5 practical tips to reduce and prevent both compassion fatigue and burnout, so you can continue your impact without sacrificing your wellbeing.

What You’ll Learn:

• The overlap and distinctions between compassion fatigue and burnout
  
  
• How to identify which one you're experiencing
  
  
• The emotional, mental, and physical symptoms of both
  
  
• 5 actionable ways to reduce or prevent them
  
  
• Why recognizing the difference matters for your healing

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Transcript

  📍  Are compassion, fatigue and burnout the same thing.  There are definitely similarities between them, but there are also some differences and it's important to know.  So you know what you are more likely to experience so that you're able to prevent it from happening or at least be able to recover from it.

In today's episode, I'm going to share signs, symptoms, and the impact of compassion fatigue and burnout. And the reason I'm doing this is because I want you to be able to continue to do the work that you're doing, what you are passionate about, your mission. It's important and it is needed.

And if you are experiencing compassion fatigue or burnout, you may not be able to continue to make the impact on the world that you want to make. And so that's why this is so important. And then at the end, I'm going to share with you five tips to help you reduce or prevent compassion fatigue and burnout.

   📍  After a lifetime of always prioritizing everyone else's needs over your own, do you feel like you don't know who you are anymore?  You might be moving into this next phase of your life or going through a life transition where your kids are getting older. You're not needing to be the parent that you used to be.

Your parents might be aging, your career or partner. Relationships are changing.  Maybe you're saying to yourself, I just feel lost, or Who am I?  You are not alone. It's time to prioritize yourself and power your mission. It's time to love your life on purpose. I'm Michelle Vande, hay certified holistic life coach and trauma sensitive yoga facilitator to mission-driven leaders around the world creating more impact without burning out. 

Let's explore who you are and discover who you want to become because you are worth it.    If you are new to my YouTube channel or new to my podcast, I put out a new episode every two weeks on Tuesdays about living intentionally loving yourself fully and creating a bigger impact without having to do more.

So be sure to subscribe or follow so you don't miss an episode. I'm gonna talk briefly about some of the similarities between compassion fatigue and burnout. And then we're gonna talk about the differences and then we'll move into the, at the end, I'm gonna share the five tips to help you prevent, burnout. Some of the similarities, they both compassion, fatigue and burnout involve mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion. That's why so many people that I talk to, they're just like, I am just so exhausted. That is common for both compassion fatigue and burnout. Some of the shared symptoms include irritability. 

Fatigue,  difficulty focusing this feeling of hopelessness. Feeling like,  nothing matters that I'm doing. It just feels so hopeless. Disconnection from others. Disconnecting and your relationships can suffer with work relationships, family relationships. And I honestly think your relationship with yourself as well, that's one that doesn't necessarily get talked about.

Another. Symptom is physical issues like headaches or sleep problems and other physical issues as well. So those are some common symptoms between compassion, fatigue and burnout.  Both compassion fatigue and burnout can lead to decreased motivation,  poor performance, and a withdrawal from your loved ones or your hobbies.

That's why this is so important and that's why.  I'm so passionate about the work that I do it's so easy when you're a business owner or when you're a nonprofit or you're leading an organization. It's so easy to focus on results and production and getting more out of everyone, 

marketing, sales, all of those things are important, and if we don't take care of the people. You are going to experience decreased motivation,  which leads to poor performance or less productivity. We want the people that are working for us, or we want ourselves to feel connected to loved ones, to hobbies, to joy. 

And so that's why I'm so passionate about the work that I do, because if you're not feeling those things, it's hard to keep going forward. It's hard to want to keep doing the work that you're doing, even though you know, you're like, I know this work is so necessary. I'm so passionate about it,  but I just can't do it anymore, and I don't want that for you.

I want you to be able to continue to do the work that you are doing.

So let's talk about some of the differences, and I am going to bring up  a little chart that I found.

For compassion fatigue. The cause is from exposure to other people's trauma and suffering. So compassion fatigue really happens because of  relationship to other people. So this is. Most common with people helping other people. So healthcare workers, first responders,  therapists,  even salon owners.

Anyone who does movement practices, so yoga teachers anyone who's dealing with people, this can happen. The difference between that and burnout is burnout typically comes from chronic workplace stress and your workload. Burnout comes more from your workload of like having so many things to do, whereas compassion fatigue is more about the exposure to other people's trauma and crisises, and then burnout happens also because of lack of support. The onset of compassion fatigue can be very rapid. It can actually happen after a single traumatic event, so it can happen almost any time. Burnout is  a gradual thing. It develops over time.

So that's how they're a little bit different where compassion fatigue can happen at any time and burnout happens over a period of time.

And I talked a little bit about some of the similarities with some like symptoms and the impact. Some of the differences are with compassion fatigue. Your emotional engagement, your empathy and compassion will be really impacted. And I was reading somewhere and I agree with this, that they said  compassion fatigue should really be called empathy fatigue.

Because when we're empathetic, that's when we're taking on other people's feelings and emotions and compassion. You can have compassion for someone without taking on. Their emotions. And so when you're experiencing compassion fatigue, you  get disconnected from those relationships and from having empathy and compassion. 

That's why it's called compassion fatigue. It's like you get tired of being compassionate or maybe more appropriately you get tired from having empathy for other people  and when you are working with people.  Compassion is so important. It's part of what makes you you, and it's part of what makes you good at what you do. And so we, we don't want, we wanna make sure we're not being so disconnected,  whereas with burnout, it affects your energy levels, your motivation, and professional fulfillment. 

Emotional symptoms for compassion fatigue are typically emotional. Numbness, detachment, like I was talking about, guilt and sadness.  Whereas with burnout,  the emotional symptoms can be cynicism, frustration, negativity, and resentment.  if you tend to be someone who maybe is a little bit more cynical or negative, that doesn't mean that you're experiencing burnout.

It's if this is happening and it's out of character for you.  And then some physical symptoms,  the passion fatigue can often show up as headaches, muscle aches, and digestive issues. Whereas with burnout, it can look more like insomnia,  weakened immune system, and even hair loss. Isn't that interesting?

 Burnout is more about the stress and the stressors of the workload that you have and stress. When we're not completing our stress cycles  we're all gonna experience stress in our lives, well oftentimes we're not completing our stress cycles. We're not. Saying, okay, it's now safe for me.

And so our bodies stay in that, that fight. Flight freeze fawn and the cortisol levels stay high. Our adrenaline stays high and that's what weakens our immune system. As far as work performance goes with compassion fatigue, your performance might remain stable.

Whereas with. Burnout. It often declines.

And then as far as recovery,

compassion fatigue can be, you can recover from more quickly if it's addressed early,  if it's not addressed early, and we're ignoring ourselves and we're ignoring what our body's trying to tell us, what our intuition is trying to tell us. It, it can take a little bit longer, and then burnout typically is a little bit longer to recover because it's something that's built up over time. 

 Before we get into the five tips to help you prevent and recover from burnout, I'm gonna just share a brief summary of what we just talked about.  So compassion fatigue is often called the cost of caring. It's most common in helping professions stemming from absorbing other people's trauma. So it's that cost of caring or that cost of empathy,  and we can care for other people without taking on their feelings and their emotions. 

Burnout is more so rooted in systemic workplace issues, such as excessive workload and lack of resources, and it oftentimes develops a little bit more slowly.  And I am a advocate for changing systemic  problems. And I think there are some systemic things that can shift for compassion fatigue as well.

But burnout specifically is typically more a systemic issue.  And then while symptoms overlap for both compassion fatigue and burnout, compassion fatigue centers. More on the emotional exhaustion and the loss of empathy. Whereas burnout is more so that chronic stress, that cynicism and that reduced professional efficacy, the ability to perform professionally  and when you're able to recognize which you're experiencing is important because.

Compassion fatigue often responds best to emotional support and self-care. While burnout, may require more structural workplace changes, and so that's why it's so important to know the difference and what you might be experiencing because both compassion fatigue and burnout.

You can do some things yourself and your workplace can help you. Your support can help you  with compassion fatigue. You have a little bit more power to create some of those changes that can help you. Whereas with burnout, sometimes it's more of the workplace structure that requires change. So I'm gonna share with you the five tips to reduce or prevent compassion fatigue and burnout. 

Number one is connection with others experiencing similar situations,  and this is one of the reasons why I created my free Facebook group. Love Your Life on Purpose so that  we can build community and we can have that connection to others. Connection is the antidote for compassion, fatigue and burnout, and also vicarious trauma when you know you're not alone and you can share what you're going through, that is a big part of the healing process and recovering or preventing it.

And that's also why I'm a huge advocate for group coaching, group therapy, doing things in groups.   You are welcome to join my free Facebook group. All you have to do is go to love your Life on purpose.com. Once you answer the questions, we'll welcome you with Open Arms and I'll send you my free self-care cheat sheet with 20 self-care habits that you can do in five minutes or less.

So go to Love Your Life on purpose.com, or you can search Love Your Life On Purpose on Facebook. Let's get to the final four tips to reduce compassion, fatigue and burnout.  So number one was connecting with others, experiencing similar situations.  Number two is setting boundaries, which we hear about boundaries all the time.

And I know this is easier said than done. It's important to set boundaries, physical boundaries, emotional boundaries.  Emotional boundaries are gonna help more so with compassion, fatigue and physical boundaries can help with compassion, fatigue and burnout.  You may only have so much control over physical boundaries depending on how your work is set up.

Number two, practicing self-care. That's why I have my free self-care cheat sheet. This means taking care of your wellbeing  and when you are well.  It means that you're not just surviving.  Oftentimes it's like, oh, I need to eat, I need to drink water. And those, yes, those things are important, but those are necessary for survival.

I'm talking a little bit more of  really being well,  and when you're feeling well, you have more energy, passion, and. You're able to really have more resilience too and be able to keep doing the work that you're doing.  Number four, share responsibilities. , kids are taught sharing is caring with our toys .

It's also important to share responsibilities,  and this can be a culture shift within an organization or a family.  It's so important to share responsibilities, to ask for help. That even if you're the leader and you have all these volunteers, it's okay to ask for help.

The volunteers are there to help, and you're actually helping them serve their purpose by asking for help.  And then number five, seek professional support.  Whether it's a coach, therapist, whatever you need professional support. Can be so helpful and so necessary. So those are the five tips to help you prevent or reduce compassion, fatigue or burnout.

If you have a question or you had an aha moment, please feel free to leave it in the comments. Share your resources that you use to help you and  anything else that you have questions about. , feel free to subscribe or follow whether you are listening to this on the podcast or watching on YouTube.  📍 

And always remember to be gentle with yourself that you are worthy and deserving of being cared for because you are  worth it.