5.7.2 Stress-Related Conditions for Advocates

Being an advocate can be extremely stressful and result in emotional and physical stress-related conditions like burnout, vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue.

The good news is that because these are cumulative processes that happen over time, strong self-care and support networks can help to reduce the risk.

Burnout: Exhaustion, cynicism and ineffectiveness are signs of a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal work stress, often called burnout. It’s a form of energy depletion that relates specifically to overworking and often results in someone leaving their position because they are no longer able to provide support for others.

Vicarious trauma: Service providers may experience a long-term stress response because of the physical and emotional stress of working with traumatized individuals.

By witnessing a survivor’s pain and trauma, the advocate can unintentionally take on that stress themselves. Hearing certain patterns in stories repeatedly can also be stressful. Over time, this can become its own form of trauma with symptoms similar to that of post-traumatic stress.

Compassion fatigue: When service providers have poor self-care and feel the need to self-sacrifice for their work, their efforts to empathize and be compassionate can end up creating an extreme state of tension and preoccupation with the suffering of others.

Service providers who are first responders are especially vulnerable to compassion fatigue. Women and people who show more empathy are at higher risk, so it’s important to learn how to leverage the asset of empathy with a sense of detachment to protect yourself from being consumed by someone else’s story.