Summary Of Compassion Fatigue By Verghese

Compassion Fatigue and Verghese Compassion fatigue is a growing result of working in the medical profession. The definition of compassion fatigue is the cumulative physical, emotional and psychological effect of exposure to traumatic stories or events when working in a helping capacity, combined with the strain and stress of everyday life (American Bar Association). Health physicians, especially those working with terminally ill patients, often become compassionately fatigued from the deaths and critical conditions of their patients. In his book, My Own Country, Dr. Abraham Verghese shares the reality of compassion fatigue as an AIDS specialist. In his story, Verghese exhibits major symptoms of compassion fatigue. The excessive hours and surprise shifts Verghese must work encroach on his personal life and contribute to compassion fatigue. Verghese’s constant hours prevent him from relaxing at …show more content…
After receiving one call from the office, Verghese expresses his frustration with his demanding hours when he states, “[he] resented the sound of the telephone, resented the intrusion on an evening that belonged to my family” (Verghese 232). Without time to decompress from the tragedies he sees every day at the hospital, work takes a mental toll on Verghese. The connections and bonds Verghese makes with his patients who are suffering from AIDS become a problem when he begins to feel emotionally unstable due to second-hand trauma. Because Verghese is emotionally connected with his patients each of their deaths is a strike to his heart resulting in pain and distress. This is evident when Verghese’s pessimistic