That Numbness You’re Feeling? There’s a Word for It.
Metadata
- Author:
- Full Title: That Numbness You’re Feeling? There’s a Word for It.
- Category:articles
- Published Date: 2024-01-01
- Summary: In the wake of recent violent events, many people may feel helpless and numb, unable to take action or offer support. This feeling is known as empathic distress, where people feel overwhelmed and immobilized by the suffering of others. Empathy is not always helpful, and can even lead to depression or withdrawal. Instead, cultivating compassion can motivate people to reach out and offer comfort and support to those in need. Acknowledging people’s pain, even if we cannot alleviate it, can make a difference and help combat feelings of helplessness.
- URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/01/opinion/israel-war-empathy-pain.html/
Highlights
- inaction isn’t always caused by apathy. It can also be the product of empathy. More specifically, it can be the result of what psychologists call empathic distress: hurting for others while feeling unable to help. (View Highlight)
- a hornet’s nest. (View Highlight)
- Note: From Cambridge Dictionary: “a very difficult or unpleasant situation, especially in which a lot of people get very angry and complain.”
- In times of sustained anguish, empathy is a recipe for more distress, and in some cases even depression. What we need instead is compassion. (View Highlight)
- Although they’re often used interchangeably, empathy and compassion aren’t the same. Empathy absorbs others’ emotions as your own: “I’m hurting for you.” Compassion focuses your action on their emotions: “I see that you’re hurting, and I’m here for you.” (View Highlight)
- Another difference is that empathy makes us ache. Neuroscientists can see it in brain scans. Dr. Klimecki, Dr. Singer and their colleagues trained people to empathize by trying to feel other people’s pain. When the participants saw someone suffering, it activated a neural network that would light up if they themselves were in pain. It hurt. And when people can’t help, they escape the pain by withdrawing. (View Highlight)
- a growing body of evidence suggests that compassion is healthier for you and kinder to others than empathy: When you see others in pain, instead of causing you to get overloaded and retreat, compassion motivates you to reach out and help. (View Highlight)
- The most basic form of compassion is not assuaging distress but acknowledging it. When we can’t make people feel better, we can still make a difference by making them feel seen (View Highlight)