The answer so far seems to be yes, but there is a lot we still don't know about compassion training. BY HOORIA JAZAIERI | AUGUST 14, 2018
Sometimes, compassion can seem like it’s in short supply.
But there are ways to increase the amount of compassion in the world—and inside of ourselves. Researchers consider compassion to be a skill that can be sharpened, similar to a muscle that can be strengthened with exercise (or deteriorate and atrophy if left uncultivated). In fact, preliminary research from a variety of randomized controlled trials suggests that compassion can in fact be enhanced through systematic training programs.
For many within the animal advocacy world, experiencing what is known as “compassion fatigue” is common. Compassion fatigue, also known as secondary traumatic stress (STS) is a condition where people feel hopelessness, stress, anxiety, and sleeplessness and/or nightmares.
How to Fight Compassion Fatigue
Take care of yourself. As Hannah Shaw, otherwise known as the Kitten Lady says, self-care is animal care. Take a vacation, read a good book, go for a walk, play with your pets, get a good night’s sleep, hang out with your friends … whatever you enjoy that will recharge YOU!
Know your boundaries. This one is really important! Know your limits. If you already have a lot on your plate and you know that one more task will overwhelm you, say NO. Only take on a project that you know you can handle!
Stay hydrated and eat well. Your blood sugar controls several different hormonal responses in the body, all of which contribute to your energy, your mood, as well as your hunger levels. Eating a whole food, plant-based diet can improve energy, lower cholesterol, and lower blood pressure. It’s recommended that you drink eight eight-ounce glasses of water a day. Food is directly related to how we feel, so make sure you take the time to choose healthy foods!
Write. Writing down your thoughts is a great way to express your feelings. You could write a daily journal, write a letter to yourself or to someone else, or perhaps try out your creative juices by writing a short story. The important thing is that you are finding an outlet to express yourself so that your feelings don’t bottle up!
MM: Is that what causes the burnout and self-harm?
RJH: Many things cause harm: working too hard, over-identifying or fusing with the suffering of others, being too empathetic. Or we take on suffering from a moral perspective and focus on the ethical aspects and service to others but we actually end up violating our own principles of care. This touches on how the edge states are interconnected.
MM: But what about empathy? In the book, you make a point of distinguishing between empathy and compassion.
RJH: Empathy is the experience of resonance with another. We identify with another or we include another into our subjectivity. We can do that at the somatic or body level, or we can do it from the point of view of emotions, or we can do it in terms of a kind of cognitivedomain. We can include into our subjectivity how the other person might see the world. That’s called “perspective-taking” or “mindreading.”
Affective empathy is the kind of empathy that most of us are more familiar with. We include the feelings of another into our own experience or our own subjectivity. If either somatic empathy or affective, emotionally-based empathy aren’t regulated, we can become over-aroused, overstimulated, and overwhelmed. And that’s called empathic distress.
I think a good example of cognitive empathy or perspective-taking or mindreading gone awry is the Third Reich, where people identified with Hitler. They began to see out of Hitler’s eyes and became more and more aligned with something that was extraordinarily violent and harmful, taking on the views of this demagogue empathically. That’s when perspective taking can be highly problematic; whereas it’s important in other situations to be able to perspective-take because our ability to connect and communicate would be very limited otherwise.
New research casts doubt on the claim that meditation makes us more compassionate and empathetic. According to an international team of researchers who performed a meta-analysis on more than 20 studies, the moderately positive effects reported by previous studies can be explained by poor methodology and bias.
“The popularisation of meditation techniques, like mindfulness, despite being taught without religious beliefs, still seem to offer the hope of a better self and a better world to many. We wanted to investigate how powerful these techniques were in affecting one’s feelings and behaviours towards others,” said Dr. Miguel Farias, from Coventry University’s Centre for Advances in Behavioural Science, in a statement....
The researchers’ investigation found that while some studies seem to indicate an overall positive impact, as far as improving compassion and empathy is concerned, the effect is only moderate compared to those who did not perform an emotionally-engaging activity.
The researchers report that, adding up the results of all the studies, meditation practice was linked to "a moderate increase" in positive, helpful behavior. But that positive finding got shakier and shakier as they delved into the details.
"Meditation interventions had an effect on the categories of compassion and empathy," they found, "but not on aggression, connectedness, or prejudice."
Worse, "a significant increase in compassion only occurred if the intervention teacher was a co-author of the published study," they write.
Psychology researchers have begun developing a science of compassion: What is it? What are the benefits? How can we foster it? Based on a review of studies on compassion, here's what it is and why it's a good thing:
Our suffering is recognized and acknowledged. Compassion starts with a willingness to see someone else's pain. Rather than looking away, denying the pain, or choosing to ignore it, we acknowledge the person's experience. This acknowledgment makes us feel less alone in our suffering.
We understand the universality of human suffering. Part of compassion is knowing that at some point, everyone hurts. In this way the pain is relatable. While pain is a personal experience, it is also a common and unavoidable part of what it means to be human. Thus we feel a further joining with others in the shared recognition that pain is part of existence.
As the world faces continuing division and chaos in the name of God, today’s interviewee, Karen Armstrong, shares with us important insights in the nature of religion, and the true essence of God through the shared moral precept of compassion. With vision and clarity, Ms. Armstrong discusses not only the differences in belief, but the reasons for the divisiveness that continues to plague humanity. With brilliant simplicity and reasoning, she shows us the way to unite human beings, no matter their beliefs, and end interfaith rivalry.
My own awareness of the reality of the suffering humans inflict on animals grew over time. I mentioned it relatively briefly in my first book about ethics, The Battle for Compassion, then changed my own dietary habits, gave much greater prominence to the issue in a short film I produced, and made it one of the key focus areas of a think tank I set up dedicated to preventing intense suffering.
I have experienced a deep sense of urgency and an obligation to do what I can, in my own way, to try to help slow down this awful industrial machine of suffering and death and eventually bring it to a halt. And I have deep respect for those who have made this passion their career and have spent years dedicated to the cause, with what sometimes seems like boundless optimism and persistence. I share with them the deep sense of meaning that comes from making the alleviation of suffering one’s life’s purpose.
Hofreuter said compassion training is basically physical and social-emotional intelligence training. The concepts are not new, but they are developing. She said students learn to self-regulate and identify emotions so that, instead of being ruled by them, emotions can be used as guides.
“You say to a child, calm down,” Hofreuter said, “but when do you teach a child what that means?”
Hofreuter’s compassion initiative also includes a variety of methods to learn conflict resolution.
Compassion literally means “to suffer together.” Among emotion researchers, it is defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering.
Compassion is not the same as empathy or altruism, though the concepts are related. While empathy refers more generally to our ability to take the perspective of and feel the emotions of another person, compassion is when those feelings and thoughts include the desire to help. Altruism, in turn, is the kind, selfless behavior often prompted by feelings of compassion, though one can feel compassion without acting on it, and altruism isn’t always motivated by compassion.
But first, people need to move beyond misconceptions about compassion toward others and self, said Russell Kolts, an Eastern Washington University psychology professor. He researches and writes about compassionate-based therapy for handling anger, fear and other strong emotions.
“I think people have this concept that compassion is soft and weak, when in reality, it’s very different,” Kolts said.
“It’s really what you do when suffering shows up. It’s about how do you handle it when things go wrong or when you’re hurting, or you come into contact with that part of yourself you don’t like, in the case of self-compassion.”
While compassionate acts include kindness and support, many people are more prone to make those gestures for others. A term used in therapy called mindful self-compassion simply encourages some thought toward acceptance of emotions and a little kindness toward self, he said.
Scientists have made great strides in uncovering what they believe to be the biological basis of human compassion.
In 2012, in a study published in the journal Brain, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City declared that they had discovered where compassion resides, in a region of the brain known as the anterior insular cortex.
This is the epicenter for what we call the “social brain.” Further research has found that much of the central nervous system contributes to what we consider altruistic thoughts and behavior.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMPASSION AND FRIENDSHIP Demonstrating compassion for your students is not the same as wanting your students to like you. Many new teachers fall into the trap of desiring their students’ approval, especially when teaching older students who are close to the teacher in age, but that can lead to a lack of mutual respect.
To show compassion to students is to take the time and effort to understand their perspective, while continuing to make choices that are best for their learning experience. Showing compassion does not mean you’re a student’s friend—it means you care about their progress and are invested in their future.
By itself, compassion is an important life skill. As a part of classroom management, compassion can enhance the effectiveness of any strategies you would normally put in place.
Compassion gives students an opportunity to trust your choices and have faith in the requests you make of them. Classroom management procedures and explicit instruction are important, but students who know you’re invested in them are more inclined to respect you and follow your lead.
He says the key to breaking hate is to be compassionate toward people - even if you don't think they deserve it. He says compassion is what helped transform his life....
“If we're divided, they've won already,” says Bro. “So we've got to figure out how to pull together as a community.”
Picciolini says no one knows this community like the people who live here in Charlottesville. His goal for the day’s event was to have that awkward and difficult conversation in a civil way and teach people to have compassion for everyone.
Meditation does not make you a better person according to a new study despite widespread claims that meditation can make you calmer and more compassionate towards other people.
“A person may have the expectation of becoming a better person through meditating, and may believe that to be the case - but in fact this has not been proven.”
Initial analysis carried out indicated that positive effects were seen by making people feel moderately more compassionate or empathetic, compared to if they had done no other new emotionally-engaging activity.
However further analysis revealed it played no significant role in reducing aggression or prejudice or improving how socially-connected someone was.
The practice may make us a little more compassionate, but it may not change us in larger ways
Meditation’s popularity seems to have crested in recent years: Celebrities, politicians, and business people have sworn by it, and science has largely supported its benefits. But a certain reality has also set in—that it’s not a cure-all, and it can even have some negative effects for some. Now, a review study in Scientific Reports finds that meditation may not make us measurably better people; that is, we may not become the exemplars of kindness, compassion, and selflessness that we hope. But there's no reason to quit it just yet.
The authors set out to look at the prosocial effects of meditation—like increasing kindness and compassion toward others and reductions in prejudice and thoughts about the self. There's been some discussion about whether meditation without its original philosophical, religious and ethical beliefs can be as effective as it once was, in its fuller iterations. But many researchers and practitioners have a lot of hope for its promise in changing people and even society.
An evolutionary journey and social implication exploration: Lecture by Prof Paul Gilbert from the University of Derby, UK, given at the 2nd symposium of EPSIG in London on Jan 12th 2018
Caregivers who reported experiencing compassion fatigue, expressed such feelings as, “I frequently dissociated and felt that I walked around in an altered state. I didn't realize that I had been in a gray space all year.
That had sort of creeped in” and “It got to the point where I would feel physically sick before the appointment and feeling nauseous.” Others described that they picked up their client’s symptoms and explained that they had “tightness in the exact same spot” as their clients and continued to carry the sensation sometimes for days. One psychotherapist expressed, “I am the empathy lady from the old Star Trek episode and get a maybe 45% hit of what my patients might be feeling 100% of.”
The helpers' symptoms, frequently unnoticed, may range from psychological issues such as dissociation, anger, anxiety, sleep disturbances, nightmares, to feeling powerless. However, professionals may also experience physical symptoms such as nausea, headaches, general constriction, bodily temperature changes, dizziness, fainting spells, and impaired hearing. All are important warning signals for the caregiver that need to be addressed or otherwise might lead to health issues or burnout.
Compassion is strongly correlated with improved immune system, physical wellbeing, and improved psychological functioning.
Being compassionate towards others has many health benefits such as lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure and lower cortisol. Cohen and Wills (1985) suggest that compassion may serve as a buffer against stres
And yet, we govern this massive health-care sector-representing roughly a third of federal spending and nearly a fifth of the entire economy-only haphazardly, because it responds to a baffling mixture of moral, economic and political imperatives. It will certainly strike future historians as curious that we tied our national fate to spending that is backward-looking, caring for people in their declining years, instead of spending that prepares us for the future.
The compassionate impulse overwhelmed the rational instinct and health care is controlling us more than we are controlling it.
To function well, social organizations need to promote understanding of and compassion toward not just the people they serve but also their own employees.
Most modern workplaces have become so impersonal and demanding that we’ve gotten desensitized to caring about coworkers.
Many people who work for nonprofits suffer from passion fatigue and compassion burnout because they already have to give so much to those they serve that they have nothing left for fellow staff. Awakening Compassion at Work, by Monica Worline and Jane Dutton, is a compelling guide to rehumanizing workplaces with love.
The book offers a road map for how to instill organizational culture with a deep sense of compassion—something that would make many organizations happier and healthier places to work.Review
What's the main message you share with business leaders?
It begins with what we value as real success. There's a saying that you know how rich you are by what you have that money cannot buy. Material things can give pleasure to the mind and senses, but it is fleeting. Those things cannot give fulfillment to the heart.
If things aren't going well at work, what can people do?
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