Coping with Compassion Fatigue: A Guide for Public Safety Personnel

Compassion fatigue is emotional exhaustion from repeated exposure to others' trauma, and managing it is vital for the well-being and effectiveness of Public Safety Personnel.

Trillium Health Partners is a leading hospital system in Ontario, committed to delivering high-quality, patient-centered care through its three main sites: Credit Valley Hospital, Mississauga Hospital, and Queensway Health Centre.

This site offers immediate, stigma-free mental health resources for trauma-exposed public safety personnel (both uniform and civilian) in Ontario. Access confidential support 24/7 through free online resources or if in immediate crisis, call 911, Homewood Health’s 24/7 crisis line at 1-833-866-9929, or for 24/7 peer support call Boots on the Ground at 1-833-677-2668.

Compassion fatigue, a form of emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged exposure to trauma and suffering, is experienced by many Public Safety Personnel (PSP). Understanding compassion fatigue and knowing how to manage it effectively is essential to maintaining your mental health and continuing to serve effectively.

What Is Compassion Fatigue?

Compassion fatigue arises when the emotional burden of helping others in distress overwhelms your ability to cope. Compassion fatigue is different from burnout, which is typically linked to stress from organizational factors such as workload and work environment. When you witness or hear about traumatic events repeatedly, it can result in feelings of emotional numbness, irritability, and a reduced ability to empathize. Over time, this can lead to disengagement from your work and personal life, which can affect your well-being and performance. Compassion fatigue is often described as the "cost of caring" and occurs when empathy and compassion become overwhelming.

Cause: Continuous exposure to others' pain and suffering without adequate recovery time for self-care leads to depletion of emotional energy. This is often a byproduct of the demands of caregiving or protecting the public.

Compassion Fatigue
Signs and symptoms:

Feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, helpless or powerless when hearing of others’ suffering

Feelings of anger, irritability, sadness, and anxiety

Feeling detached from our surroundings or from our physical or emotional experience

Feeling emotionally, psychologically, or physically exhausted

Nausea, dizziness, headaches

Reduced empathy or feeling numb

Feeling hypersensitive or insensitive to stories we hear

Limited tolerance for stress

Self-isolation and withdrawal

Relationship conflict

Feeling less efficient or productive at work

Reduced pleasure in activities

Difficulty sleeping and nightmares

Difficulty concentrating, focusing, or making decisions

Increase in substance use

Coping Strategies for Compassion Fatigue

Prioritize Self-Care: Self-care is essential to maintaining your emotional resilience. This includes getting regular exercise, practicing mindfulness, and ensuring you get enough rest. Make time for activities that you enjoy outside of work to give your mind and body a break. Even simple habits like eating well, staying hydrated, and getting enough sleep can go a long way in preventing emotional exhaustion. Create a buffer between work and home; a ritual such as changing out of a uniform, going for a drive, and allowing space (both physically and emotionally) from the workplace can help to allow you to re-connect with yourself and your family when the workday is over.

Lean on Your Support Network: It is important to connect with others who understand the challenges you face. Talking with family, friends, or colleagues who have similar experiences can provide emotional relief and prevent feelings of isolation. Understand that compassion fatigue is not a weakness, and it can be experienced by anyone working in a helping profession. Peer support groups, both formal and informal, can offer a space to share struggles and coping strategies.

Seek Professional Support: Don’t hesitate to seek professional counseling or therapy if you feel overwhelmed. Mental health professionals who specialize in trauma and PSP can help you process the emotional challenges of your work. Therapy can provide tools to manage stress, develop coping strategies, and work through the feelings associated with compassion fatigue. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness practices can be especially effective in addressing the emotional toll of trauma exposure.

Things to Keep in Mind

Recognize the Signs Early
Notice the signs of compassion fatigue before it becomes unmanageable. Look out for symptoms like emotional numbness, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and a sense of detachment from your work. Compassion fatigue tends to come on acutely and is often reversible with proper self-care, rest, and boundary-setting.

Talk about it
One of the biggest barriers to managing compassion fatigue is the stigma around mental health in high-stress professions. Seek peer support and connect with people you trust. Organizations also play a crucial role in normalizing the experience of compassion fatigue, developing supportive work environments which encourage debriefing of work-related material, and improving access to supports and resources. This can ultimately decrease compassion fatigue organizationally and improve compassion satisfaction, which is the pleasure one derives from helping others, working with colleagues, and altruism.

Set Boundaries and Take Time Off
Public safety roles often require long, irregular hours, and it can be difficult to find time to recharge. However, setting clear boundaries around work and personal time is essential. Take breaks, if possible, use your vacation time, minimize overtime when possible, and make sure you're getting time away from the stressors of the job. Your mental health should be a priority so that you can continue to do the important work that you do. Set healthy emotional boundaries to maintain compassion and empathy without overly taking on someone else’s pain or tragedy.

Resources

Peer Support – Badge of Life Canada

Boots on the Ground | Peer Support for First Responders

References

Badge of Life Canada. (n.d.). Peer support. Badge of Life Canada. Retrieved April 28, 2025, from https://badgeoflifecanada.org/peer-support/?doing_wp_cron=1745519340.7354431152343750000000

Boots on the Ground. (n.d.). Home. Boots on the Ground. Retrieved April 28, 2025, from https://www.bootsontheground.ca/

Bride, B. E. (2007). Prevalence of secondary trauma stress among social workers. Social Work, 52(1), 63-70. https://doi.org/10.xxxx (If there is a DOI, include it here)

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. (2023, May 24). Is there a cost to protecting, caring for, and saving others? Beware of compassion fatigue. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Retrieved April 28, 2025, from https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/is-there-a-cost-to-protecting-caring-for-and-saving-others-beware-of-compassion-fatigue

Figley, C. R. (1995). Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized. Brunner/Mazel.

McFadden, M., & Vane, A. (2014). Compassion fatigue and secondary trauma in emergency responders: A review of literature. Journal of Emergency Medical Services, 39(8), 20-29.