This term originally comes from the medical field and refers to a reaction caused by some combination of emotional (and often physical) exhaustion from overwork, exposure to excessive and prolonged suffering in others, and a sense of powerlessness. It manifests as a relative shutdown of empathy as a defensive mechanism - kind of emotional numbing. We saw this on a large scale with nurses and doctors during the peak of pandemic.
These times are rife for compassion fatigue. We just witnessed a pandemic. Throw in Ukraine, mass shootings, and those displaced by extreme weather. Throw in babies unable to get formula and those threatened by financial insolvency and homelessness. Throw in the loss of abortion rights and the concern about the well-being of pregnant women. The bees are dying. Throw in the threat of nuclear war, and the other consequences of extreme weather including the suffering of the beasts, and it is easy to see why feeling in an empath might shut down partially or completely in self-defense.
I try to deal with it through acceptance (Kubler-Ross' fifth stage of grief), a skill I learned working for hospice. The worst that can happen may happen, but it doesn't have to be an excessively emotional ride.
Getting back to hospice, those who could not accept the terminal nature of a loved one's illness suffered much more as they witnessed the ineluctable ongoing deterioration of the terminally ill loved one than those who had accepted the overwhelmingly likely fact that this process cannot be stopped, the optimists always expecting a miracle, never getting it, their emotions repeatedly dashed against the rocks with every decline. The others also suffered, but less so.
That's what my experience of watching America die was like until I accepted it. It's OK if America dies, because it looks like it needs to go on hospice now. It's OK if the Republicans regain control, because they probably will. This upcoming election is critical, and liberal patriots are very worried about the outcome. Not I. I have preferences, but I expect the right to eventually prevail soon and steal America's wealth for the few. Oh, well. Que sera sera.
Is this an issue for some here? Was it and it has since resolved somewhat or entirely? What are your coping strategies if you are suffering because of your empathy?
These times are rife for compassion fatigue. We just witnessed a pandemic. Throw in Ukraine, mass shootings, and those displaced by extreme weather. Throw in babies unable to get formula and those threatened by financial insolvency and homelessness. Throw in the loss of abortion rights and the concern about the well-being of pregnant women. The bees are dying. Throw in the threat of nuclear war, and the other consequences of extreme weather including the suffering of the beasts, and it is easy to see why feeling in an empath might shut down partially or completely in self-defense.
I try to deal with it through acceptance (Kubler-Ross' fifth stage of grief), a skill I learned working for hospice. The worst that can happen may happen, but it doesn't have to be an excessively emotional ride.
Getting back to hospice, those who could not accept the terminal nature of a loved one's illness suffered much more as they witnessed the ineluctable ongoing deterioration of the terminally ill loved one than those who had accepted the overwhelmingly likely fact that this process cannot be stopped, the optimists always expecting a miracle, never getting it, their emotions repeatedly dashed against the rocks with every decline. The others also suffered, but less so.
That's what my experience of watching America die was like until I accepted it. It's OK if America dies, because it looks like it needs to go on hospice now. It's OK if the Republicans regain control, because they probably will. This upcoming election is critical, and liberal patriots are very worried about the outcome. Not I. I have preferences, but I expect the right to eventually prevail soon and steal America's wealth for the few. Oh, well. Que sera sera.
Is this an issue for some here? Was it and it has since resolved somewhat or entirely? What are your coping strategies if you are suffering because of your empathy?