Vicarious trauma
Trauma does not only affect the person who directly experiences an event. Being alongside someone in distress, hearing their story, witnessing the aftermath of traumatic events, or repeatedly being exposed to difficult material can also have an impact.
This is sometimes described as vicarious trauma — the emotional and psychological effect that can develop through repeated exposure to the trauma of others.
It can affect anyone, but it is particularly relevant for people whose work involves routinely supporting, caring for or protecting others. This includes ambulance clinicians and call handlers, police officers, firefighters, healthcare professionals, military personnel, therapists, social workers and others working within caring or emergency roles.
For people working in the blue light and emergency services, exposure can accumulate over many years. It may not be one particular incident that becomes difficult. It can be the repeated road traffic collisions, deaths, violence, safeguarding situations, distressed relatives, difficult calls and responsibility for other people’s safety.
Sometimes there is one incident that stays with you. Sometimes there are hundreds that seemingly haven’t — until something changes.
How might vicarious trauma show up?
Vicarious trauma doesn’t look the same for everyone. The effects can develop gradually, and when you’re used to coping, carrying on and looking after other people, they can be surprisingly difficult to recognise in yourself.
How you feel
You may notice that you are more anxious, irritable or emotional than usual. Or you might experience the opposite — feeling numb, detached or as though you have switched off emotionally. You may begin questioning yourself, feeling guilty about things you couldn’t change, or wondering whether the work you once valued still has the same meaning.
How you think
Some experiences are difficult to leave at work. Calls, images, patients or particular incidents may replay in your mind afterwards. You might find yourself thinking more about danger, worrying about the safety of people you love, or becoming increasingly cynical about people or the world around you.
How your body responds
Carrying other people’s trauma can be exhausting. Sleep may change, concentration can become more difficult and you may notice headaches, tension, stomach problems or simply feeling persistently tired and depleted.
How you cope
Sometimes the ways we cope change too. You might withdraw from people, become more irritable at home, lose interest in things you normally enjoy or find it increasingly difficult to switch off from work. You may notice yourself using alcohol, food, work or other behaviours more often as a way of escaping how you feel.
Vicarious trauma doesn’t look the same for everyone. The effects can develop gradually, and when you’re used to coping, carrying on and looking after other people, they can be surprisingly difficult to recognise in yourself.
Sometimes the first sign isn’t that you can’t do the job anymore. It’s that doing the job is beginning to change how you feel when you’re no longer there.