SELF-CARE

The worksheet below will help you assess the balance in your life and prompt you to consider what adjustments may be needed.

Maintaining balance is an important component of self-care. When out of balance the stress can get to us and burnout is more likely. This can lead to giving up and feeling defeated. By listing out the things that are most important to you and then using the diagram to help you visualize how you are doing in different areas of your life, it becomes easy to see where shifts may need to be made. 

There is a sample at the back of this document.

Compassion fatigue and political fatigue are in some ways quite similar. Compassion fatigue often affects helping professionals, caregivers and first responders regularly directly or indirectly exposed to the trauma of others, others’ pain and those with mental health or extreme emotional needs. It is often referred to as “the cost of caring”. 

Political fatigue however is more likely to affect people from just about any walk of life. While compassion fatigue more often refers to those who are working directly with those suffering, this is not necessarily the case with political fatigue. Also important to know is that while professionals are often provided information about compassion fatigue, political fatigue is not something that is currently in the spotlight despite the fact that it impacts roughly 66% of Americans currently. 

Therefore, we believe it is important to share this information with you so you might more likely be aware of when you are experiencing either of these conditions, and to also provide you with some tips on what you can do to address these needs when they arise. Here are some characteristics of both conditions.