Caretaker Interview
BSHS/445 Survey of Crisis and Mental Health Issues and interventions
July 7, 2015
Deborah Prince
Burnout is not perceived as a crisis because it is slow and insidious. Rather, it is a slow and steady erosion of the spirit and energy as a result of the daily struggles and chronic stress typical of everyday life and work (Pines & Aronson, 1988, p. 11). Burnout occurs when problems past and present from the job continue to pile up. Occupational burnout is physical and emotional, mental exhaustion combined with doubts of competence and the value of ones work. Occupational burnout is also defined as lack of enthusiasm, motivation, and feeling of ineffectiveness. Compassion fatigue is a type of burnout that is caused by empathy; it is natural consequences of stress that comes from the caring of and helping traumatized and suffering people. It comes on suddenly and with little warning and is more times more pervasive than burnout. Additionally to regular burnout, a person experiencing compassion fatigue feels a loss of meaning and hope can have strong feeling of anxiety, difficulty concentrating, being jumpy, and difficulty sleeping.
The demands of a job in the caregiving field can be very overwhelming and especially when you have little control over the situation is more than you think you can handle. Burnout can affect your health, relationships, physical and emotional health. The following points have been supported to varying degrees by research on burnout ( Baird & Jenkins, 2003; Bornitz et al., 2005; Carroll & White, 1982; Decker, Bailey, & Westergaard, 2002; Golembiewski & Munzenrider, 1993; Golembiewski, Munzenrider & Stevenson, 1986; Golembiewski et al ., 1992; Grossi et al., 2005; Grouse, 1984; Hoeksma et al., 1993; Koeske, Kirk, & Koeske, 1993; Lee & Ashforth, 1993; Linley, Joseph, & Loumidis, 2005; Lyndall & Bicknell, 2001; Maslach, 1982a; Melamed et al., 2006; Piedmont, 1993; Pines & Aronson, 1988;...