Recognizing the Signs of Vicarious Trauma and How to Cope

In the realm of professions that provide direct services to others, the work often involves empathetic engagement with individuals facing trauma. While the focus is typically on the well-being of those we serve, it's crucial for caregivers and professionals to be aware of the potential impact on their own mental health. One such phenomenon is vicarious trauma or secondary PTSD, a condition that can subtly infiltrate the lives of those in the helping professions. Vicarious trauma does not discriminate - no matter if you work with kids or adults, are a little league coach, a therapist, a firefighter, or a nurse - this blog is for you! In this blog post, we'll explore what vicarious trauma is and how to recognize its symptoms.

Understanding Vicarious Trauma:

Vicarious trauma, also known as secondary trauma or compassion fatigue, is the emotional residue that results from hearing about, witnessing, or being indirectly exposed to the trauma experiences of others. It's a natural consequence of consistently engaging with individuals who have experienced significant emotional pain or distress. In short, you are emotionally impacted by someone else’s trauma.

Recognizing the Symptoms:

1. Emotional Exhaustion:

Vicarious trauma often manifests as heightened emotional exhaustion. If you find yourself feeling drained, irritable, or emotionally depleted after interacting withthoseo you serve or hearing their stories, it could be a sign. Maybe their experience consumes your thoughts for days on end or you find yourself trying to learn all that you can about what’s going on and how to “fix it”.

2. Difficulty Sleeping:

Sleep disturbances, such as insomnia or nightmares related to the content of clients' experiences, may indicate the presence of vicarious trauma. You may also go to bed and wake up with their experiences of trauma on your mind.

3. Hypervigilance:

Constantly being on high alert, feeling anxious, or having an exaggerated startle response are common signs. This heightened state of vigilance can extend beyond the workplace into personal life. If you’re a first responder, firefighter, or police officer this may be one of your greatest signs of vicarious trauma.

4. Cynicism and Detachment:

Developing a sense of cynicism or detachment as a coping mechanism is a red flag. If you notice yourself becoming increasingly indifferent or adopting a cynical outlook, it's crucial to explore the root cause. When you start to become jaded and detached, it’s time for a break and to try and fire up your initial reason for “starting” this work.

5. Physical Symptoms:

Chronic headaches, stomachaches, or other physical complaints without an apparent medical cause may be indicative of vicarious trauma affecting your overall well-being.

6. Difficulty Setting Boundaries:

Struggling to establish and maintain professional boundaries, feeling overwhelmed by clients' stories, or taking on their emotional burdens can be a sign that vicarious trauma is taking a toll. Your level of empathy may increase, and you have big feelings about their experiences. You may experience by-stander guilt, shame, or feelings of self-doubt.

My Experience with Vicarious Trauma

I’ve spent my entire career working directly with children and youth while avoiding working directly with adults in a clinical capacity. I’ve primarily served children and youth who have been in the foster care system or experienced copious amounts of trauma. I’ve heard hundreds of stories directly from children about the horrific traumatic experiences they’ve endured. I experienced vicarious trauma for years and didn’t fully realize it as I became more jaded with each year that passed. When I moved into leadership roles and worked less directly with children/youth, I spent most of my time in operations and fundraising efforts as an executive director. I took an executive director role with a nonprofit in an unfamiliar industry to me - swim schools. No one prepared me for the phone calls I would get from parents who had experienced the unthinkable. I was a new mom with a one-year-old and already worried about everything in the world that could cause her harm. One day I received a call from a father who wanted to honor the memory of his daughter through a donation. As he was talking all I could (selfishly) think was “please don’t share her story with me.”. He shared her story - and told me that his four-year-old daughter had died from a drowning incident. She was only alone for a few minutes and the unthinkable happened. He was the first of many other parents who would share their similar traumatic experiences with me. I was shaken to my core for days. I dwelled. I felt guilty that my daughter was alive and his wasn’t. For weeks, I went to sleep thinking about his daughter and woke up with her on my mind. I googled everything I could about childhood drowning and, in my hypervigilance, I bought door alarms and other safety items for my own house.

The ABCs of Coping Strategies for Vicarious Trauma

Awareness: Develop skills to know what stress looks and feels like for you. Don’t ignore your brain and body when it’s telling you something is off. You can engage in self-regulation strategies such as exercise, breath work, or meditation. Lastly, accept your own feelings with the same compassion that you show others.

Balance: Create routines to include breaks - this means schedule a time in your week to go for a walk and take it. Take your entire lunch break and do not work during that time. We also heal when we pull away and give ourselves peace and quiet. This may look like limiting your intake of news and social media. Take time to engage in creative and enriching activities (this is actually a great form of self-care!) such as art, reading, learning a language or taking a class. Invest in yourself to keep your brain and soul happy. And here’s one that we all struggle with most likely… communicating expectations and boundaries. To everyone. Communicate these healthy boundaries to co-workers, family, friends, clients. An example of this looks like “I cannot do _______ for you by tomorrow or next week. I don’t have that availability in my schedule.” Boundaries are imperative for coping.

Connection: Create intentional connections with friends such as making time for coffee (only if you want to!). If you continue to struggle with vicarious trauma, you may need to connect with a counselor or therapist. And be sure to connect with yourself. Take 30 minutes on Fridays to reflect on what went well for the week, what successes you had, what challenges occurred, and how you want to spend time moving forward.

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best of the best, how well are you at practicing your ABCs? What would it take to get just one point higher on the scale? Maybe scheduling 30 minutes for self-care during your week or signing up for an art class.

Conclusion

Recognizing the symptoms of vicarious trauma is the first step toward mitigating its impact. As caregivers and professionals committed to the well-being of others, it's crucial to prioritize our own mental health. You know what they say about filling your own cup first. By fostering awareness and implementing proactive coping strategies, we can continue to provide compassionate support without sacrificing our own emotional well-being in the process.