The Emotional Toll of Being a Mental Health Professional

Just had a thought pass through my mind. One I had never really thought about before. Imagine being a mental health professional. All day, everyday, hearing about people's trauma, abuse, sadness, pain, and struggles. Some of them so bad they make you feel physically sick to your stomach. Watching people cry or lash out in anger from the deep, deep hurt that weighs on them so hard they don't know how else to deal. And all you can really do is listen, offer medicine and do your best to help guide them through the worst parts of their lives. You can't really actually DO anything about it. BUT you can't take it home with you. You can't let it affect you. You have to remain unbiased and professional at all times. That would be an extremely difficult job to do. especially if you're an emotional person. An empathetic person. A person who also had past trauma, even if you did heal from it before taking the job. No wonder it feels like every mental health worker I have ever encountered was cold or didn't understand. How could you possibly do that job without putting up a (massive) barrier between you and the world? How could you NOT take it home some days? I always felt like the therapist(s) never understood or didn't care. That I was just a pay check. It never occurred to me that maybe they were burned out and bogged down from the weight of other people's baggage. I guess in all MY hurt and desperation I forgot that they're people too. That they too have been through some crap.