Combating Compassion Fatigue

What is compassion fatigue?

Media is an incredible tool that can be used to bring people together. Current events can be shared almost instantaneously all around the world. Populations can be exposed to good and bad in the world they would never be aware of beyond their sphere. However, this easily accessible news, specifically suffering in media, is affecting our ability to react to these moral problems. Losing ignorance to suffering through the media has led to compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue is defined as, "morally exhausted and weary as opposed to morally excited and active" when referring to human tragedies in the media (Tester, 1994). Because consumers are exposed to so much suffering they withdraw emotionally because they feel powerless to change the situation and have been desensitized to the suffering.

Scrolling through the Wall Street Journal is a powerful way to analyze compassion fatigue. All of these articles show human tragedies that may induce fear, pain, or sorrow when experienced. Similar examples could be an article covering a racist act, domestic violence, or an impoverished refugee camp. As these articles arise on a newsfeed that is constantly being updated, they can be used to evaluate responsiveness. All of these articles are under a 10-minute read, but because the reader is experiencing compassion fatigue, they would just scroll past these articles. Instead of creating a moral message, they will fulfill their moral responsibility by giving a post a like and would respond with, "I am glad that is not me." Being bombarded by this content consistently can alter our reality and make it seem like these acts are acceptable. Because of overexposure, the reader knows if they ignore an article they don't like, it will go away in a few minutes (Tester,1994). Suffocating in articles like these does not create any real change and can become emotionally draining. So what is to be done?

How to combat compassion fatigue

Drawing attention to the words used in the paragraph above: overexposure, suffocating, consistent content, and bombarded; compassion fatigue can be combated by unplugging from a constant stream of mass media. One simple way to do this is to turn off push notifications so that you can seek out information to educate yourself at your own pace. Push notifications take away your control and will increase the time you spend on media. Another healthy practice is reevaluating what media you are using and what profiles are being followed. Re-evaluate what sites are helping you be empowered and which sites are not benefiting you. This can not only affect your level of compassion but also your mental health (Pikörn, 2020).

Another way to unplug from the chaos is to take time to go “tech-free” and find ways to be mindful of the feelings you are having. This could be through meditation, talking about your feelings, or even journaling.

A final way to fight compassion fatigue is to find ways to act! Put yourself in the situation and re-evaluate what you would do if you were to be the one in the article. How would you want others to react? Although these events may be all around the world and seem out of our reach, we can make a difference. Simple examples would be finding an organization or charity to fight for the cause, re-posting and drawing attention to the injustice through your online efforts, finding ways to serve in your local community, or even creating art depicting your feelings about the situation. It is easy to think, " I am so happy that doesn't exist in my world!" but looking for parallels in your life can change the world. You may not live in 1930 and experience racism in that way, but do see examples of biases in your circles that you would stand up against? Do you have Prejudices that are affecting the way you think and act around others? Compassion fatigue makes one a passive consumer, but an individual has more power for change than perceived.

References

Pikörn, I. (2020, June 12). Combating compassion fatigue with mindfulness & meditation. Insight Timer

Blog. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://insighttimer.com/blog/combating-compassion-fatigue/

Tester, K. (1994). Media, culture and morality. New York: Routledge.