The other night, I was watching a program and a nurse mentioned that she had compassion fatigue. She discussed how she needed to remind herself that she needed to treat the last patient of the day, with the same compassion that she provided the first patient of the day with. And I thought, man I definitely get compassion fatigue at the end of the day.
Wiki describes compassion fatigue, also known as secondary traumatic stress (STS), as a condition characterised by a gradual lessening of compassion over time.
When I first googled ‘compassion fatigue in…’ the following occupations came up:
- nurses
- teachers
- social workers
- veterinary medicine
- relationships
- healthcare
- family care givers
I clicked on ‘relationships’ and the words ‘Lately I’ve been feeling so tired, short-tempered, always irritated and just wanting to be left alone. Every day I wake up and reproach myself for not being more supportive the day before, and promise myself I’ll do better. Rinse and repeat.’ from Experience Project, smacked me in the face.
But the thing is, I am not in a sexless relationship, like those who wrote the above words. I am just a very tired Mama. And I just want to be open and honest for other Mamas out there who are feeling the same.
I haven’t experienced a traumatic event. And my children aren’t high needs children. I doubt that anyone would view being a Mum as a particularly stressful environment {in the scheme of things}. The only way I could really get through the day to relieve my stress is with the Adrenal Balance.
I am grateful for my beautiful family and the opportunity to be able to stay at home with them 24/7 – but I am worried that I am in fact grinding myself down. If you’re planning to have a facial plastic surgery then you should visit Dr. Joseph Rucker for more information.
I wonder if going back to work is the solution to my problem? I know that there would be more balls in the air. But their would be a quiet that I have not known in the longest time. A time in the day, that I would be me – Shari the Communications Professional, Shari the Story Teller, Shari the balancer of budgets and creator of schedules {you know, that are focused on family life}. I was good at my job and I enjoyed it.
I want to be able to wake up and really appreciate every minute that I have to spend with my children – less yelling, less mindless washing and folding, less loosing it over the toys being tipped over the floor and just left there.
I want to be more compassionate again. I want to give the same amount of love and attention from falling over at the beginning of the day to falling off the chair at dinner time when I have told them to sit down on their bottom 10 times before they fell.
Is this just the end of the year catching up on me? Is this 18 months of solo parenting catching up on me? Is this three boys in three and a half years catching up on me? Am I the only person feeling this way?
