(Content warning: Violence against animals and humans, including descriptions of specific examples)

Empathy

I have very strong empathy. This is perhaps the single characteristic that has the most influence over my life, whether in terms of my future life goals, my past formative experiences, and my present day-to-day activities, thoughts, and feelings.

In Self-Care for Autistic People, Megan Anna Neff uses the word “hyperempathy”. Dr Neff suggests ways for people who feel empathy very strongly and deeply to “release the weight of the world’s pain” as a form of self-care. Likewise, in Late Bloomer: How an Autism Diagnosis Changed My Life, Clem Bastow writes that “if we suffer from anything, it’s too much empathy”. A recent academic editorial writes: ‘Autistic people have described that they experience “…hyperarousal of the empathic system…” or an “…intense, uncontrollable empathy…”’ (source).

What do I mean when I say “empathy”? A recent review of 43 definitions of empathy (hahahaha) gives this definition that roughly captures what I mean when I use the term “empathy” (cited here). I’ve modified this definition slightly to capture the essential components:

To perceive the internal frame of reference of another with accuracy and with the emotional components and meanings which pertain thereto as if one were the [individual]

Importantly, this process:

Involves perceiving what another being perceives
Involves understanding what it would be like to be that individual
Can apply to human and non-human individuals (i.e. sentient animals)

For me, empathy can be both voluntary and involuntary. That is, I can consciously put myself in another individual’s position - I frequently do this as part of my meditation practice, for example. However, it’s more common for my empathy to happen involuntarily - I witness a being in an intense emotional state, usually negative, and I immediately perceive what that being perceives almost as a reflex-like response.

Witnessing suffering

In my job and my life, I frequently witness scenes of intense suffering. For example, the second chapter of my book Trash Fish contains a vivid description of the intense and unbearable suffering of a fish in everyday fish farming oeprations. I’ve taken many steps to be very careful about the media I consume to minimise this. However, many instances are unavoidable:

Reading studies comparing different methods of fish slaughter as part of my work on fish welfare
Reviewing images and footage of animal abuse on farms as part of my work on animal welfare
Hearing stories of violence and murder from my friends in the trans and queer community
Seeing a dead animal on the side of the road
Seeing somebody cook a meal that contains chicken

Whenever I am presented with a situation like this - even indirectly, such as reading about suffering rather than witnessing the actual scene of suffering directly - I feel the suffering myself. As such, witnessing suffering causes me to incur an emotional burden over time. You can understand why I feel a physical and emotional panic response when I see somebody cook a meal that has chicken in it - I can’t simply ignore a single instance of suffering. This builds up over time, and it is now difficult to bear.

The cumulative effects of witnessing suffering over time can cause mental health issues, which have begun to receive attention over the past few years. Definitions vary, but some important terms are:

Secondary traumatic stress
Compassion fatigue
Burnout

These are all defined in different ways, but they’re frequently used interchangeably. Basically, all three of these refer to the mental health burden incurred by an activist or caregiver due to witnessing suffering over time. (“Burnout” is perhaps a bit broader, as it is often used in everyday parlance to mean anything from “a bit tired” to “catastrophic mental health consequences of overwork”. But it’s also used in the literature on secondary traumatic stress and compassion fatigue in this more narrow way.)

Compassion satisfaction

While witnessing suffering can be immensely challenging, there is a positive dimension: compassion satisfaction.

Compassion satisfaction is defined in the healthcare literature as the “the pleasure, purpose, and gratification received by professional caregivers through their contributions to the wellbeing of [other individuals] […]” (source).

I think this is important to keep in mind. Addressing compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress is important, but quitting or even working less is not always the answer - compassion satisfaction can form an important part of your personal wellbeing and life’s meaning.

Further reading: Secondary traumatic stress and compassion fatigue

I frequently grapple with compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress. I’ve put a large amount of thought and energy into looking after myself while I do this work. And I’m very, very lucky to have a manager who really cares about looking after ourselves too, as many managers in the animal advocacy movement do not encourage employees to look after themselves. If you have the privilege to find an organisational culture where discussing compassion fatigue is encouraged and supported, this is a valuable step you can take towards your wellbeing.

I’ll preface these resources by emphasising this point: I don’t think there is any one solution to compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress. We all have a unique mind, and we all bring unique experiences, triggers, strengths, and areas of vulnerability. I think that overcoming compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress is one area of life where each person needs to invent their own solution through work, trial-and-error, and reflection. What works for one person might not work for others.

Understanding compassion fatigue / secondary traumatic stress:

Tips for Animal Advocates: Treating Secondary Trauma, blog article available online
Veterinarians And Compassion Fatigue, AKA Secondary Traumatic Stress, summary of a peer-reviewed study available online

There are some books on this topic too, which may have some useful tidbits:

Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul (Dorcas Cheng-Yozun)
To Save a Starfish: A Compassion Fatigue Workbook (Jennifer A. Blough)
Taking a Break from Saving the World: A Conservation Activist’s Journey from Burnout to Balance (Stephen Legault)
The Idealist’s Survival Kit: 75 Simple Ways to Prevent Burnout (Alessandra Pigni)
Sustaining Spirit: Self-care for Social Justice (Naomi Ortiz)

There are some academic books that I have not read but that seem potentially valuable (I might read these at some point!):

When Helping Hurts: Compassion Fatigue in the Veterinary Profession (Kathleen Ayl)
Burnout and Trauma Related Employment Stress: Acceptance and Commitment Strategies in the Helping Professions (Holland et al)
Secondary Trauma: Silent Suffering and Its Treatment (Robert W. Motta)

I’ve also found a lot of value in meditation and being part of a spiritual community. I practice both Plum Village Buddhism and Christianity, and there’s loads of great content there about doing our best even when the world seems irreparable. In Buddhist circles, I’m quite inspired by the work that Thich Nhat Hanh, Sister Chan Khong, and their community did during the Vietnam War. Those folk are 100% honest badasses. I often read their autobiographies/memoirs (especially Fragrant Palm Leaves: Journals 1962-1966 and Learning True Love: Practicing Buddhism in a Time of War, respectively) when I’m feeling in need of inspiration! From a Christian/Abrahamic perspective, I found value in the biblical books Ecclesiastes (and the commentary Hearing the Message of Ecclesiastes by Christopher J. H. Wright) and Job (and the commentary The Book of Job: When Bad Things Happened to a Good Person by Harold S. Kushner).

I also find it can be helpful and validating just to have a community to whom you can turn if you are feeling upset or unsure about particular things. I have a standing offer to all of my direct colleagues that, if they ever need a friend, I will be there, up to and including flying to their location with a bottle of wine!