Why we should manage empathy to prevent burnout

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Sonali Gupta 3 min read 8 Oct 2025, 08:00 AM ist empathic distress can take the form of fatigue. (IStockphoto) Summary empathy leads to us showing concern and compassion, but “too much empathy” can make us burn out a 33-year-old client has asked me if “too much empathy” is a bad thing. “I feel that empathy is one of my biggest strengths, but also a weakness. I wonder if it sometimes tires, and then I just want to hide, ‘she said. This is a sentiment that I often hear during therapy sessions, especially from doctors, palliative care workers, journalists, social workers, caregivers, therapists, teachers, young mothers and people in age groups for whom empathy is a top trait. What the client refers to and experiences is ’empathic distress’. Researchers Tania Singer and Olga Klimecki in an article in 2014 entitled Empaty and Compassion mentions how empathy can take the form of fatigue and lead to the individual wanting to protect themselves from the overwhelming negative feelings they experience. We must remember that empathy is an essential quality and yet must be managed so that one does not identify too much. If not well managed, empathy may feel like a blind place that is present in our well -being and the ability to be skilled for others. At the heart of it lies the human ability to be focused on what others are experiencing, be it joy, sadness or pain, and approach it as if we are walking into their shoes. That’s what makes it beautiful – it opens a window for connection and allows us to understand the lives of others. It is a fundamental trait needed to build human societies and the basis for altruism. A prerequisite for empathy is to understand the ‘as if’ quality-to understand someone’s experience, but to be aware that it is not your own. When we forget it, we eventually become emotionally entangled, lose our objectivity, equality and even begin to feel the pain of others physically and emotionally. It can overwhelm us and get in the way of providing our help to others. My client said listening to her friend’s suffering evokes so much pain that her face turns pale, she feels terribly sad and then guilty because she feels she has made it over herself. If people experience it, it can elicit exhaustion, burnout and tension. Awareness of this is a good starting point. It allows us to wait and think how we can be more present for others and ourselves. The idea is not to do away with what empathy provokes, but to ask us how we arise. Our ability to compassion can provide an antidote. It also contains feelings of warmth, care and a sentiment to help. In his heart lies the recognition of universal suffering, yet with an awareness that one is watching and not possessing the pain of others. This concept creates a healthy space where one can respond with attention, curiosity, presence, warmth, kindness, while we know that we may not be able to take away their pain. Recognizing the difference between empathic distress and compassion helped me to deepen my ability to compassion. If you pay attention to feedback that the body gives, meditation, to do techniques for mood, spend time in nature and are deliberate about what kind of help to offer, so that it is soothing, but also enables people to care for themselves. Most importantly, staying honest about what helps my ability to compassion at any given time. The art of developing compassionate concern is what we can all cultivate as we continue to be soft with ourselves. Sonali Gupta is a psychotherapist in Mumbai. She is the author of yours will be in order: a guide to navigating sadness and has a YouTube channel, mental health with Sonali. Catch all the business news, market news, news reports and latest news updates on Live Mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. More Topics #mental Health Read Next Story