YVONNE TEVLIN, VIA EMAIL: HOW CAN I BEAT COMPASSION FATIGUE?

There are plenty of claims about the “best” sleep position — for example, it’s often thought that sleeping on your left side aids digestion.

- TIM HATLEY, LINCOLN

The idea of 'compassion fatigue' was first proposed in the context of nurses who spend their working days caring for people, showing them compassion and empathy - and sometimes witnessing them going through traumatic experiences.

There are really two parts to compassion fatigue. There's the emotional exhaustion and sometimes there's also the secondary trauma, from watching someone else suffer.

Of course, it's not just nurses who can be at risk. It could affect anyone in a caring or related profession who is required to engage emotionally with others and/or watch them deal with difficult experiences. Even outside of a formal work role, you could be at risk if you spend a lot of your time showing up emotionally for someone else and/or seeing them suffer.