vicarious trauma
Absorbed emotional wounds
Vicarious trauma is psychological distress that develops from repeated exposure to others' traumatic experiences—common among therapists, social workers, emergency responders, and journalists who regularly encounter accounts of violence, abuse, or disaster.
Unlike direct trauma, it accumulates gradually through empathic engagement with victims' suffering: After years of interviewing survivors, she recognized signs of vicarious trauma in herself.
Also called secondary traumatic stress.
- secondhandHaving had prior ownership
- burnoutChronic occupational depletion
- compassion fatigueEmotional depletion from overexposure
- emotional laborManaging feelings for job demands
- witnessOne who attests
empathy · moral injury · therapist · caregiver · professional distance · helplessness · nightmares · intrusive · absorb · emotional exhaustion · secondary · PTSD · counselor · overwhelm · boundaries · exposure · distress · numbing
- traumaabuse, abandonment, acute stress, amnesia, attachment disorder
- burnoutburned out, burnt out, burn out, burning out, burnout
- workplace hazardsstress, burnout, fire hazard, overwork, back pain
- emotional painemotional pain, emotional scars, hurt, pain, anguish
- Indirect Effectssecondhand smoke, passive smoking, collateral damage, ripple effect, spillover
- workplace stressjob stress, work stress, occupational stress, job burnout, job anxiety
vicarious traumacontact high
Secondhand substance-induced euphoria
vicarious traumapost-traumatic growth
Development sparked by crisis
burnout recovery · psychological wellbeing · resilience · emotional health · mental wellness
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