Compassion Fatigue – Helping Family Members Cope With BPD

Hosted by Lois W. Choi-Kain, MEd, MD, McLean Hospital

Compassion fatigue is a term that describes the way in which caregivers who are constantly giving are frequently at risk for mental instability and illness.

Compassion fatigue symptoms are displays of chronic stress including isolation from others, poor self-care, excessive blaming, or substance misuse.

Recognition that one may have compassion fatigue can lead to insights of past difficulty, greater self-care, and eventually healing and recovery.

Both family members of and professionals working with individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) benefit from recognition of this concept and utilization of tools to intervene in strengthening their status as supports to those with BPD.

Part of the BPD Patient and Family Webinar Series.

Resources

You may find this additional information helpful:

• Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project
• National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder
• NEABPD Family Connections
• McLean Webinar Series
• Tara4BPD
• Borderline Personality Disorder Family Guidelines by John G. Gunderson, MD, and Cynthia Berkowitz, MD