OTLA Trial Lawyer Winter 2021

44 Trial Lawyer • Winter 2021 • Negativity — frustration, cynicism, irritability and pessimism often ac- company the emotional disturbances associated with burnout, along with a sense of inadequacy and a funda- mental lack of confidence. • Interpersonal conflicts — difficulties dealing professionally and/or socially with peers, colleagues, friends and spouses/partners. Being short-tem- pered, impatient, irritable or simply not caring, and often not being truly present when interacting with others or socially withdrawing altogether. • Physical symptoms — physiological complaints often associated with stress-related conditions — chest and muscle tightness, headaches, dizzi- ness, shortness of breath, stomach pain and similar conditions likely to interfere with daily functioning. • Unhealthy efforts to self-medicate — an attitude of I-can-handle-this is phenomenon. It ’s the biologi ca l byproduct of our humanity that causes al l of us to empathical ly absorb, knowingly or unknowingly, at least a portion of the trauma we are exposed to, in much the same way as a witness to a severe car accident might. See , https:// www.americanbar.org/groups/lawyer_ assistance/resources/compassion_ fatigue/ for an excellent overview of compassion fatigue. Lawyers in some areas of practice are more susceptible to compassion fatigue than others.Typically, these are lawyers who routinely work in criminal, family, juvenile and immigration law, as well as those handling serious personal injuries and medical malpractice cases. The symptoms of compassion fatigue are largely similar to those of chronic stress. There typically are, however, some additional, unique, identifying charac- teristics. Indeed, unrecognized or untreated compassion fatigue itself leads to burn- often the initial response to emerging burnout and compassion fatigue, often leading to the excessive use of alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, food and the like to self-medicate. These efforts not only tend to escalate, but they exacerbate other stress-related symptoms. • Appetite and sleep disturbances —in- terference with these two basic human needs of healthy living, often cause or exacerbate most of the other symp- toms of burnout listed above. Compassion Fatigue A discussion of burnout necessitates addressing compassion fatigue, also known as vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress and secondary stress reaction. This condition is the cumulative physical, emotional and psychological consequence of exposure to the traumatic and/or distressing stories and events that we, as lawyers, are often exposed to in our pract ices. This is a very real Burnout Continued from p 43