Why Do We Have Empathy Burnout and How To Overcome Them?

This year, we have been waking up to tragic news and media coverage relating to the Israel-Palestine War on social media platforms. The devastation continues as more innocent lives are lost, evoking empathy and heartbreak worldwide. Non-Government Organisations like Palestine Children's Relief Fund, Voice For Palestine and UNICEF have been making initiatives to raise funds and highlight media coverage to give a deeper insight into the present situation of people living in Palestine. 

A sense of helplessness and hopelessness plague us as there are limitations on how we can contribute to help with the on-going war. We may feel a sense of helplessness and develop emotional exhaustion due to the increase in media coverage regarding the news on the war. Hence, this condition is known as empathy burnout. 

Understanding Empathy Burnout

Past research has defined empathy burnout as a condition in which an individual experiences a sense of physical depletion, emotional exhaustion and feeling overwhelmed after a long period of empathising and caring for others’ well-being (Shao et al., 2021; Wilkinson et al., 2017). Business leaders and individuals in service oriented occupations like healthcare professionals and public service workers are more prone to empathy burnout because empathy plays a big role in shaping relationships and setting work expectations from their colleagues and clients(Cole & Bedeian, 2007). Hence, it is important to understand the root cause of empathy burnout: 

1. Experiencing or witnessing distressing and traumatic events 

Distressing and traumatic events like death of a loved one, war and divorce may put affected individuals at a vulnerable position, affecting the individual’s ability in regulating their emotions. Excessive allocation of resources (mental and cognitive) might cause the affected individual to be unable to cope with the stress that may arise from the event (Shao et al., 2021). The affected individual will experience emotional numbness as they may be struggling to process the remaining emotions from the event. 

2. Exposure to negative news on social media 

Social media like Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Tiktok has facilitated as a platform to promote self-expression and promote awareness on certain topics like war, natural disaster and domestic violence. Thus, it contributes to the spread of emotions, similarly to an infectious cold, among the users in their daily lives through the media content that has been promoted by the algorithm. As such, the exposure to a certain type of news plays an important role in affecting how users can relate and connect with the social network emotionally. For example, news relating to pandemic might cause the user to depersonalise and disassociate from the world as they are exhausted emotionally. As more and more negative news are uploaded, the users are encouraged to desensitise themselves to the negative news, ignoring the severity of the event. 

Discover More: Is Your Social Media Approach Helping or Hurting Your Career? 

3. Peer pressure

We have become increasingly reliant on social media due to its user friendly approach and dynamic content. While it fosters and maintains social connections and allows us to vent frustrations, excessive use can lead to peer pressure and FOMO (fear of missing out). Individuals with a higher sensitivity to peer pressure might constantly compare with their other peers on social media, especially in the context of societal contributions like sharing donations and creating awareness campaigns for other societal issues such as poverty and gender inequality. Thus, we will have a sense of inadequacy and a pressure to perform, ultimately impacting their psychological well-being and increasing the risks of developing mental health disorders like social anxiety, depression and anxiety (Lotar, 2011). 

Read more: How to Handle Peer Pressure At Work

Combating Empathy Burnout: Strategies for Maintaining Health and Productivity

Experiencing persistent empathy burnout may cause an adverse effect on one’s health in the long-term like cardiovascular disease, obesity, anxiety and depression. As such, job satisfaction and work productivity will be negatively impacted as individuals feel demotivated to continue to work. However, let’s not be too worried as there are some ways on how to overcome empathy burnout: 

Self-care 

Research shows that self-care can alleviate psychological distress and significantly reduce one’s stress levels to prevent oneself from burnout (Colman et al.,2016). As such, it is important for one to implement self-care as a respite from the hustle and bustle of work life. Self-care also encompasses other aspects of life such as having a balanced diet, setting a ‘me’ time and self-reflection. We can try out a variety of activities to implement our own self-care routine such ranging from watching our favourite drama series, learning a new skill like playing musical instruments and trying out new sports activities, for example, hiking and pilates. 

Discover more about self-care: Where Does Self-Care Fit On Your To-Do List? 

Growth mindset 

Implementing the concept of growth mindset can help us in managing our personal emotions, especially complex emotions (Quinn et al., 2020). Growth mindset refers to a belief in viewing the challenges and setbacks and taking them as a learning experience. We can manage our own emotional expectations and burdens by acknowledging our emotional limits, reducing the risks of suffering from empathy burnout. As such, we are able to draw the line between personal life and work life, enabling us to care for our own mental and emotional well-being better.

Learn more about Growth Mindset: Grow Through Design Thinking 

Social media detox

Allocating a period of time to have social media detox once in a while may reduce our exposure to negative news and societal pressure that we may get by comparing ourselves to our friends. Research suggests that social media detox can improve one’s mental health by reducing our exposure to negative news (Plackett et al., 2023). Thus, it helps improve our mental health. Additionally, some time off from social media encourages us to have our own ‘me-time’  and immerse ourselves in activities to develop our soft skills, such as networking, communication skills and leadership skills. It enables us to socialise with other people around us. We can also reframe our maladaptive thinking patterns to positive ones by taking the time for self-reflection and gaining motivation to improve for personal and professional development. 

Yoga and meditation 

Engaging in yoga and meditation practices can be powerful tools to overcome empathy burnout (Kumar R. et.al., 2022; Aayushi Khajuria et al., 2023). It is because yoga practices and meditation put an emphasis on slow, controlled breathing, which aids in regulating our bodily reactions towards stress like lowering our heart rate and regulating our parasympathetic nervous system (Magnon et al., 2021). Additionally, yoga and meditation also promote emotional regulation and cultivate compassion. This also gives us time for some well-needed refresher, prevents emotional exhaustion and encourages us to do self-reflection. You can search for yoga and deep breathing exercises by searching on the internet or download apps that specialise in deep breathing engagement like ‘The Breathing App’ and ‘Headspace’. 

Conclusion

Empathy burnout is still a prevalent concern as long as one neglects to conduct self-care for oneself. Therefore, it is essential that we learn on how to prioritise our own well-being before caring for others. It is because, as individuals, we ourselves are the basics in caring for ourselves. We should allocate some time to regain our energy and declutter our mind so we can facilitate and provide support to those who are in need. Let me end the article with a quote as a reminder to prioritise our own needs before others: 

You owe yourself the love that you so freely give to others. - Rupi Kaur