Secondary‑trauma Concept Creeps into Care

Clinicians and advocates are broadening the label 'secondary traumatic stress' to include a wide range of distress (from ordinary empathy to workplace strain), which risks diluting clinical categories, misdirecting scarce mental‑health resources, and stigmatizing normal caregiving stress. That definitional inflation changes who gets prioritized for evidence‑based treatment and how employers and institutions craft support policies. — If accepted, this conceptual creep will shape mental‑health policy, workplace accommodation rules, and public expectations about who needs clinical treatment versus social support.