Caregiver Burnout & Compassion Fatigue Assessments — Free Tests for Carers
Caregiver burnout, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress — clinically validated tests for family caregivers and helping professionals. Free in the Mindtalk app.
What this hub covers
Caregiver-specific mental health assessments for both professional and family caregivers.
- ProQOL — Professional Quality of Life Scale — three-dimension profile (Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout, Secondary Traumatic Stress). Best for helping professionals.
- OLBI — Oldenburg Burnout Inventory — two-dimension burnout mapping. Cross-profession.
- Am I Burnt Out? (Burnout Risk Scan) — 2-minute burnout risk band.
- Caregiver Burnout Test (CBT2) (in the Mindtalk app) — specifically for family caregivers.
- Parenting Burnout Test (PBT) (in the Mindtalk app) — for parents in high-demand caregiving contexts.
The three dimensions of compassion fatigue
Compassion Satisfaction — The positive feeling from doing the work well. Present when the mission still feels meaningful and you're able to see impact.
Burnout — Exhaustion + disengagement. Chronic response to sustained caregiving demand. Builds slowly.
Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) — Trauma symptoms from exposure to others' trauma. Intrusive imagery of specific cases, avoidance of activities that remind you, hypervigilance, negative cognitive shifts. Feels like PTSD.
These three dimensions respond to different interventions — recognising which is which matters for recovery.
Family caregivers — under-screened, at high risk
Family caregivers of dementia patients, cancer patients, mental health patients, disability patients, and chronically ill loved ones show rates of depression, anxiety, and burnout above general population. But they rarely present for their own care — the system focuses on the person they're caring for.
Common family caregiver patterns:
- Chronic sleep disruption from caregiving demands
- Loss of own identity outside the caregiver role
- Guilt about resentment
- Social isolation
- Financial strain
- Physical health impact
- Depression / anxiety that goes unaddressed
If you are a family caregiver, taking the tests here is worth 5 minutes — the results often surprise people.
Helping profession patterns
Doctors, nurses, therapists, counsellors, social workers, teachers of at-risk children, first responders, disaster response workers, hospice / palliative care staff, child welfare workers, humanitarian aid workers.
Common patterns:
- Exhaustion that doesn't lift over weekends
- Cynicism about the work
- Intrusive imagery from specific cases
- Sleep disruption from case content
- Difficulty separating personal and professional life
- Considering leaving the field
Treatments backed by evidence
For burnout: Recovery strategies (sleep, weekends off, physical recovery), structural change (caseload, boundaries), CBT for perfectionism / over-responsibility if these are present.
For Secondary Traumatic Stress: Trauma-focused therapy for YOU — not just supervision. EMDR, TF-CBT, and Somatic Experiencing all work for secondary traumatic stress. Continuing to work while STS is untreated increases risk of your own PTSD.
For low Compassion Satisfaction: Values-clarification, reconnection with mission, peer support, sometimes an honest look at whether the role still fits.
For family caregiver burnout: Support groups (dementia caregivers, cancer partners, disability caregivers), respite planning, boundary work, and often individual therapy for the caregiver's own mental health.
When to see a specialist
- Burnout is High or Very High
- STS present — intrusive imagery, avoidance, hypervigilance
- Compassion Satisfaction very low
- Caregiving impairing your own family / health / relationships
- Considering leaving the field or role
- Depression or anxiety symptoms alongside caregiving
Mindtalk's clinicians work with helping professionals and family caregivers across Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mysore, and online for anywhere in India.
Related reading
- ProQOL Professional Quality of Life
- OLBI Oldenburg Burnout Inventory
- Am I Burnt Out?
- PHQ-9 depression screener
- ITQ trauma screener — pair with ProQOL if STS is present
- Workplace Wellbeing 90-day programme
- Mindtalk's clinicians across India
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is compassion fatigue?
- Compassion fatigue is the emotional cost of caring for people who have experienced suffering. It has two components: burnout (exhaustion + disengagement from the work) and Secondary Traumatic Stress (trauma symptoms from exposure to clients' or care-recipients' trauma — intrusive imagery, avoidance, hypervigilance, negative alterations in cognition and mood). Charles Figley (1995) coined the term; Beth Hudnall Stamm's ProQOL is the current gold-standard measure.
- Who should take these tests?
- Anyone in a helping profession — doctors, nurses, other healthcare workers, therapists, counsellors, social workers, teachers of at-risk children, first responders, disaster response workers, hospice / palliative care staff, child welfare workers, humanitarian aid workers. Also: family caregivers for chronically ill or trauma-affected loved ones (dementia care, disability caregiving, cancer partner, addiction family member).
- What''s the difference between burnout and secondary traumatic stress?
- Burnout is exhaustion, depletion, and disengagement — a chronic response to sustained work demand. Builds slowly, can happen in any job. Responds to recovery + structural change. Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is work-related trauma symptoms from repeated exposure to trauma — intrusive imagery, avoidance, hypervigilance, negative alterations in cognition. Feels like PTSD, responds to trauma-focused therapy (EMDR, TF-CBT, Somatic Experiencing) — not just recovery.
- Why are family caregivers under-screened?
- Family caregivers rarely present to mental health services for their own care — they present for their loved one. The system doesn't screen them. Cultural expectations (particularly in India — filial duty, informal caregiving norms) amplify this. But family caregivers of dementia patients, cancer patients, mental health patients, and disability patients show rates of depression, anxiety, and burnout above general population. Routine screening should be standard; it isn't.
- What treatment works?
- Depends on the profile. High Burnout → recovery strategies + structural (caseload, boundaries, supervision). High Secondary Traumatic Stress → trauma-focused therapy (EMDR, TF-CBT, Somatic Experiencing) for your own trauma symptoms. Low Compassion Satisfaction → meaning work, reconnection with mission, or an honest look at whether the field / role still fits. Cadabams' clinicians experienced with helping professionals and family caregivers work across all three dimensions.
- When should I see a specialist?
- If burnout is high, if STS is present, if compassion satisfaction is low, if the caregiving is impacting your own family / health / relationships, or if you're considering leaving the field or role. Mindtalk's clinicians work with helping professionals and family caregivers across India.
Need a clinician's read on your results?
A high score is a signal, not a diagnosis. Mindtalk's psychiatrists and clinical psychologists can interpret your results and recommend next steps — same-day appointments available.