Table of Contents
What Is Empathy Fatigue?
How Constant News Overload Drains Us
Setting Healthy Boundaries to Protect Empathy
Mindful Media Use for Emotional Well-Being
Self-Care as Resistance and Renewal
Building Sustainable, Compassionate Connections
Empathy and Boundaries
Working with clients from diverse backgrounds and situations, a common challenge I hear, given the tumultuous world we live in, is that they are exhausted by the constant stream of news and the need to stay on alert 24/7.
Every time we turn on social media, or look at the news, or even turn our heads, people are suffering, globally and locally. With injustices occurring nonstop, it can be exhausting for us to maintain empathy. It is easy to get desensitized and have a hard time putting ourselves in others’ shoes and understanding or sharing their feelings and thought processes.
I have heard from many that, amidst caring for others and worrying about larger picture issues, they are also experiencing the very real effects of policy change in their own day-to-day lives.
We never know what our friends, partners, or co-workers may be struggling with, so we may want to always have empathy towards others, even when their actions may have been hurtful or we have no more care to give.
How do we place a personal boundary between whether to turn our empathetic self on and when to preserve our own well-being? How do we engage in boundary setting without guilt or shame?
Empathy Fatigue
Every day, people’s rights are getting stripped away, and people are becoming more and more polarized. Many of my clients share that they tend to want to stay engaged, empathetic, and fast to take action in the face of injustice to feel like a real participant in resistance. To uphold this ideal, we continue to engage with stress-inducing information, violent images, and painful realities, even when our bodies are telling us to stop.
Every time we see something that pulls at our empathy, a piece is given, and without rejuvenating ourselves, our empathy is finite.
More often than not, clients are caring for others, whether it be through financial assistance, emotional support, such as listening to their stories, or providing refuge, while also being unsure if they are safe or if they may lose their job.
Traditionally, empathy fatigue, which is when individuals experience emotional numbness, social isolation, and/or a host of negative effects from witnessing tragedy, was seen in first responders and health care workers who were working on the front lines. Now, because of how available information is and the intensity of unease, more and more people are experiencing empathy fatigue without the proper resources to prevent and recover from it.
Setting Personal Boundaries to Preserve Empathy
One way to regulate the amount of empathy to exert in a specific situation is by being mindful of the situations we expose ourselves to. For instance, if you know that seeing videos of injured individuals is especially saddening for you, you can opt out of watching these videos or ensure that you are only spending a specific amount of time browsing social media or new outlets. You may be less up to date on the newest progression or incidents, but it will allow you to stay energized to not only live your life but also stand up for others when they need it most.
Being intentional with the boundaries and why we set these boundaries will allow us to protect ourselves against guilt and shame that may emerge from engaging in self-preservation.
Self-care as a Form of Resistance
Now more than ever, some narratives push a need to be a “perfect activist” who puts others’ needs above their own and never fails to take the extra step or is always at the frontline. However, without a place to nurture and re-energize, our emotional resources will quickly be depleted. This is why it is important to take care of ourselves and attend to our needs.
Taking care of ourselves can look like attending a protest, sleeping in, stepping back from activism, going to the gym, eating breakfast, choosing not to talk about politics, or choosing to engage in dialogue. Self-care can look completely different for each person. What is important is that it rejuvenates the soul and protects us from burnout and hopelessness. So that when something we care about arises, we are ready to get on our feet and fight together.
For those of you who are taking care of others when you are also needing to be taken care of, self-care may be sharing the load that you are carrying. Maybe you will find a deeper connection with the person you are caring for by establishing a sense of mutual care by sharing your own struggles and letting them hold it alongside you.
Setting Personal Boundaries to Preserve Empathy
One way to regulate the amount of empathy to exert in a specific situation is by being mindful of the situations we expose ourselves to. For instance, if you know that seeing videos of injured individuals is especially saddening for you, you can opt out of watching these videos or ensure that you are only spending a specific amount of time browsing social media or new outlets. You may be less up to date on the newest progression or incidents, but it will allow you to stay energized to not only live your life but also stand up for others when they need it most.
Being intentional with the boundaries and why we set these boundaries will allow us to protect ourselves against guilt and shame that may emerge from engaging in self-preservation.
Self-care as a Form of Resistance
Now more than ever, some narratives push a need to be a “perfect activist” who puts others’ needs above their own and never fails to take the extra step or is always at the frontline. However, without a place to nurture and re-energize, our emotional resources will quickly be depleted. This is why it is important to take care of ourselves and attend to our needs.
Taking care of ourselves can look like attending a protest, sleeping in, stepping back from activism, going to the gym, eating breakfast, choosing not to talk about politics, or choosing to engage in dialogue. Self-care can look completely different for each person. What is important is that it rejuvenates the soul and protects us from burnout and hopelessness. So that when something we care about arises, we are ready to get on our feet and fight together.
For those of you who are taking care of others when you are also needing to be taken care of, self-care may be sharing the load that you are carrying. Maybe you will find a deeper connection with the person you are caring for by establishing a sense of mutual care by sharing your own struggles and letting them hold it alongside you.
