According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, one in five American adults has a mental illness, and less than half receive treatment. Among those experiencing mood, thinking and behavior problems are mental health providers working to support others.
Providing behavioral health care can be difficult and mentally exhausting. Providers may experience what is called “compassion fatigue,” which is the emotional stress of working with people who are dealing with traumatic events. By meeting and listening to patients’ traumas and challenges, mental health providers ease the emotional burdens of others. The Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration suggests symptoms of compassion fatigue include:
- Feeling overwhelmed, helpless and extremely tired
- Disorientation or confusion
- Frustrated, skeptical, angry or upset
- Physical symptoms such as shortness of breath, more headaches, heart palpitations, muscle tension or trouble sleeping
Mental health providers can also experience burnout, which is emotional exhaustion and withdrawal after increased workload and stress. This problem could worsen as the United States faces a growing shortage of psychiatrists due to the massive demand for mental health services.
Mental health providers are in a unique position to receive and handle a patient’s emotional challenges without the freedom to respond. If you’re having a bad day, tell your therapist; Your therapist doesn’t tell you about their bad day. In addition, mental health providers cannot discuss their work with their friends and family, as most workers can. This can leave the therapist feeling isolated. Burnout from managing other people’s problems can cause them to lose less energy managing their own.
While mental health therapists and counselors are trained to provide helpful insight and advice for anxiety and depression, there comes a time when they need to pursue their own therapy. Talking with a therapist or counselor can help mental health providers better understand their own blind spots and triggers. Additionally, this can provide a safe space to get support from a colleague who truly understands the nature of this hard work. This provides an opportunity for the mental health provider to experience empathy from the other side of the chair. It also helps therapists avoid passing on their own unresolved emotions to their clients.
To prevent or overcome these challenges, mental health providers, therapists, and crisis counselors may regularly meet with colleagues and supervisors for interviews and discussions. about these internal challenges. Ongoing training and peer support—even peer systems—can help these professionals release stress before it leads to fatigue.
