Many lawyers enter the field because they want to help people, to make a difference; what is often not anticipated is the toll such self-sacrifice can take. When caregivers focus on others without practicing self-care, destructive behaviors can surface. Apathy, isolation, bottled up emotions, and substance abuse head a long list of symptoms associated with the secondary traumatic stress disorder now labeled compassion fatigue. The condition has been defined as an extreme state of tension and preoccupation with the suffering of those being helped to the degree that it can create a secondary traumatic stress for the helper.