English

Noun

compassion fatigue ‎(usually uncountable, plural compassion fatigues)

1. Exhaustion of the capacity to react with sympathy to another's misfortune owing to one's overexposure to previous misfortunes.
   • 1992, The Second Annual Refugee Day: October 30, 1991, Office of the U. S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs, page 34,

     But we must beware of the creeping "compassion fatigues,” and we must fight to counter the tendency.

   • 1997, Kenneth R. Minogue, The Silencing of Society: The True Cost of the Lust for News, page 28,

     Events come to be significant as instances above all of something that can be named: generation gaps, compassion fatigues, capitalist greed, welfare cheating, road rage, and so on.

   • 2002, J. Eric Gentry, Compassion Fatigue: A Crucible of Transformation, Steven N Gold, Jan Faust, Trauma Practice in the Wake of September 11, 2001, 2013, page 47,

     A common thread we have found with sufferers of compassion fatigue symptoms has been the progressive loss in their sense of connection and community.

   • 2005, Karen S. Johnson-Cartee, News Narratives and News Framing: Constructing Political Reality, page 298,

     Recently, researchers have focused on another disturbing consequence of negative news—compassion fatigue.

   • 2013, Katherine Tapley-Milton, Devotions With Your Cat: For Those Who are Struggling, page 60,

     When people talk about “compassion fatigue” it means having difficulty tending to other peoples' needs. The following article comments on what compassion fatigue is and how to overcome it so that you are not permanently burned out.

   • 2014, Karen Saucier Lundy, Sharyn Janes, Community Health Nursing, page 1113,

     In the nursing profession, the following stressors can affect our health:

     • Personal variables: perfectionism and overinvolvement with patients, compassion fatigues, burnout […] .

See also

• redemption fatigue

References

• “compassion fatigue”, in the Collins English Dictionary (CollinsDictionary.com).