Empathy Overload: Possible Link to Increased Chances of Burnout?
Suffering and pain experienced by others can evoke an overwhelming response, sometimes leading to disconnection and a lack of desire to help. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as compassion fatigue, but experts explain that it is, in fact, a form of empathetic distress.
Empathetic distress occurs when an individual experiences a high level of empathy for someone else, to the point where their own distress escalates to an unmanageable level. It can especially affect individuals who belong to communities often overlooked, silenced, or oppressed. The line between compassion and empathetic distress is critical to understanding this phenomenon and finding ways to overcome it.
Empathy refers to the ability to feel the pain or distress of others; although not to the same degree, it still causes a feeling of discomfort. On the other hand, compassion involves feeling care and a desire to help, without the emotional burden of taking on another's pain.
"With empathy, you may feel the other person's pain, but with compassion, you hold them," explains Elizabeth Lin, a family medicine physician, mindfulness teacher, and clinical professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine. "Empathy means, 'I feel you,' but compassion means, 'I hold you.'"
The key difference is how each reaction engages the brain: empathy activates circuits associated with emotional stress, while compassion activates areas linked to warmth, connection, and proactive support, leading to constructive, helpful behavior.
Empathic distress can lead to several negative consequences, such as emotional exhaustion, burnout, and an inability to offer effective support. However, recognizing and intervening in this cycle can help individuals regain emotional balance and maintain their ability to care for themselves and others.
To overcome empathetic distress, individuals should prioritize their basic needs, learn to cultivate compassion (and self-compassion), engage in self-care activities, focus on taking action instead of dwelling in distress, set reasonable boundaries, and trust their instincts about what will help them maintain emotional well-being.
With self-awareness and the ability to distinguish between empathy and compassion, individuals can develop strategies to manage empathetic distress and promote emotional resilience.
- Maintaining a balance between empathy and compassion is essential for mental health, as prioritizing self-care activities and setting boundaries can help individuals manage empathetic distress and promote resilience.
- Focusing on self-compassion and self-care, along with taking action instead of dwelling in distress, can help individuals overcome empathetic distress, allowing them to maintain their ability to care for themselves and others.
- As the aging population increases and health-and-wellness trends continue to evolve, understanding the role of mental health in empathetic distress and self-care becomes crucial for fostering strong relationships, both within society and in personal life, based on compassion rather than empathetic distress.
