Compassion Fatigue

I’ve been worried a lot about inflicting compassion fatigue upon those around me lately, and this article in The Correspondent, while insightful, didn’t do all that much to help. Whenever I express this worry to people close to me that I confide in frequently, I am often reminded that I have to trust in them to know when enough is enough and that they are capable of looking after themselves and setting healthy boundaries when it’s required, but as the article articulates, that is likely easier said than done.

It has also occured to me recently, that perhaps a portion of my struggles come from my own compassion fatigue. I habitually try to “save” people, going to often unnecessary and inappropriate lengths to help people close to me, at the expense of my own wellbeing. It’s only in the past couple of months I’ve come to realise how much this is actually damaging to me, and I am working to cast it off, but it seems fairly ingrained so far. If I am not trying to save someone else, the only person left to save will be myself… And that is a terrifying prospect.