Compassion Fatigue is considered a progressive syndrome, with characteristics similar to those of other stress disorders, such as secondary post-traumatic stress disorder or vicarious trauma, these are :
- Emotional reconnection with the traumatic experience, avoidance and physical and affective distancing from the ill person and/or others.
- Hyperarousal, staying predominantly in a state of alertness, tension and high reactivity.
The symptoms manifested by nurses often go unnoticed and may be of varying degrees of severity depending on the level of fatigue. The initial signs and symptoms in professionals exposed to contagion/emotional saturation are attitudes of self-protection or avoidance behaviour: cynicism or disinterest in patients.