Avoiding Empathy Burnout on RUOK Day

Today it's important we touch on some important neuroscience that can make all the difference to our resilience and our relationships – and that’s understanding the difference between empathy and compassion.

Neuroimaging studies using fMRI have discovered that empathy and compassion light up very different parts of the brain. 

Empathy shows up in various brain regions including the insula, an older part of the brain that allows us to feel the emotions of others. When this part of the brain is over-active, it can create empathic distress including negative feelings, burnout and withdrawal. Too much empathy can also lead to narrow mindedness and biased decisions, as we tend to empathise more with people who are like us. Alternatively, we may put off making hard decisions for fear of hurting others’ feelings. 

In other words, empathy is an emotion. It can be draining.

Conversely, compassion is an intent. It is empowering.

Compassion activates the pre-frontal cortex, the most modern part of the brain that relates to executive functioning. Unlike empathy, compassion switches on feelings of warmth, concern and love for others, combined with a strong motivation to improve others’ wellbeing. 

An explanation of the two states is explained here in this 2-minute video by Rasmus Hougaard - the founder of Potential Project.

So how do we use this knowledge at work? Imagine you are on a Zoom with a colleague who is feeling completely stressed and overwhelmed. Rather than getting caught up in emotional contagion, acknowledge their difficulties with compassion and ask what sort of resources or support they need to get them through.

You can read more about this important topic in Rasmus’ Forbes article: Four Reasons Why Compassion is Better For Humanity Than Empathy.

Use the attached practice to find space to fill up your own experience of compassion - and offer it to those you love.