No Rest for the Weary

With the end of part four of the Plauge, Dr. Rieux and colleagues have lost all sense of hope. They have seen so much death and pain, and have lost so much sleep, that their strength of sanity is at stake. Slowly, they become less deliberate in their efforts to save and prevent further infection. They become like robots, doing the same duties and tasks over and over with no emotion. And yet, disregarding some duties out of forgetfulness that comes with exhaustion, they put their patients at further risk of transferring the infection.

Doesn't this sound familiar? How many times have we denied ourselves the much-needed rest and reward because we were desperate to help the people around us? Though empathy can hurt at times, and be somewhat exhausting and inconvenient, I think it is worse to disregard our mental and emotional health to the point of burn-out simply because those around us are struggling. It is better to feel pain than to feel nothing at all, else you go through life with no sense of caution or forethought, because everything is nothing. 

With emotional or mental burn-out comes a sense of indifference. When we once cared so much about the issue and those around us, we now care only in action. This hurts those we were trying to help, who may feel targeted by our carelessness. It is a dangerous game and one that causes more problems than solutions, especially in a dying world. The doctors, the helpers, the witnesses must be mentally awake in order to do any good. Otherwise, what is the point?

P.S. I commented on Emma Landry and Ashlyn Scism's posts