Definitions

Vicarious trauma: Impact of being exposed to the trauma stories of others

It is change resulting from empathetic engagement with others, where the person experiencing vicarious trauma is experiencing signs and symptoms of trauma-related stress, as a direct result of being exposed to the experiences of others.

Burnout: A state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged duress. It is change as a result of continually being under significant levels of stress. It includes feelings of overwhelm, being emotionally drained and being unable to meet constant demands. It often results in loss of interest and motivation in things you once enjoyed.

Signs of vicarious trauma

Lingering anger, upset, sadness about another’s experience
Becoming overly emotionally involved with another person
Experiencing bystander guilt, shame, feelings of self-doubt
Over identification with person (relatability)
Pre-occupation with thoughts of person outside of work
Loss of hope & increased pessimism and cynicism
Distancing, numbing, detachment, cutting people off, staying busy. Avoiding listening to people’s traumatic stories
Difficulty maintaining professional boundaries (try and do more for the person than your work role defines).

Self-help for vicarious trauma and burnout

Increased self-awareness – recognise and monitor your signs of stress.
Increase level of self-care to reduce signs of stress.
Proactively ensure a work-life balance.
Proactively manage workload.
Take regular breaks.
Seek social support form colleagues, a buddy system can be great to monitor and share ideas about managing impact of exposure.
Be boundaried about work and personal time – your brain needs downtime.
Look after your physical health – think about what you eat and the fluids you consume.
Look and listen to positive, calming and pleasant images and audio.
Have simple easy 10min strategies that you can use to take a mental break
(e.g. breathing exercises or mindful meditation, talking a walk outside)