People Experiencing Major Compassion Fatigue Usually Feel Numb About 8 Things
we.bond.creations | Shutterstock While we often think of compassion fatigue as something that happens to people people in helping professions who have become exhausted, it's something that can happen to anyone who is giving too much. When they start feeling numb to these daily experiences, it's often time to take a breather and examine priorities and their boundaries. .
8 experiences people start to feel numb to when they've got major compassion fatigue:
1. Other people's complaints
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Even when they’re not explicitly asked, many empaths find themselves open to hearing the complaints of other people. Often, they feel their pain and struggles as if they’re happening to them, so they have a natural desire to help.
But after a while, compassion fatigue starts to set in and that openness starts to fade. Chances are, at this point, these formerly great listeners don’t even have the emotional energy to feel anything, let alone work up the courage to offer support.
2. Small moments of joy
According to a 2020 study, people experiencing compassion fatigue don’t just find it more difficult to think clearly and regulate their emotions, but they even struggle to find daily sources of hope. Suddenly, the optimism and joy they used to bring to their interactions are replaced with a feeling of hopelessness. Sometimes it's even worse, complete numbness.
In situations where they used to feel uplifted, like talking to a stranger or noticing a beautiful part of nature on their commute to work, they feel nothing. It’s like a version of survival mode for people at their emotional breaking points. This is a good time for someone to reach out for support themselves, as numbness can be a sign of high-functioning depression, not just fatigue.
3. Their work
Even if they typically find joy, meaning, and purpose in their careers, empaths struggling with compassion fatigue may find it harder to show up for themselves and their companies. They may even slip into a more pessimistic mindset than they typically do, struggling to find the motivation to work and show up for everyone when they can’t even show up for themselves.
As a study that appeared in the Journal of Health Psychology explains, the more effort they have to put into finding meaning in these environments, the harder it is on their emotional energy. It’s exhausting to search for meaning, and for empaths already feeling drained, it can feel impossible.
4. Minor inconveniences
After a while of letting other people drain them, minor inconveniences may start to take more of a toll in the moment than the bigger things do. Worse, they likely don't even realize it as they're totaly numb to little things. This is especially true for someone struggling to regulate their emotions or already dealing with a lot of stress, these annoyances can prompt all sorts of disproportionate reactions.
Even in moments where they might offer a stranger help or find the good, these people feel nothing. They may not have an emotional outburst, but it’s clear they’re also not living mindfully or existing in the present moment as they would if they felt energized.
5. Bad news and upsetting headlines
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We already know that watching too much bad news and consuming too much negative content online can seriously put our emotional and mental well-being at risk. This is extra true empathetic people who are already sensitive to this kind of negativity and prone to absorbing it all as their own, media overload is detrimental.
However, feeling completely emotionally numb to it also isn’t healthy and is likely a sign someone is experiencing compassion fatigue in a big way. For the kinds of empathetic people who would otherwise take action on this kind of news or use it as motivation to do something good, feeling nothing is also harming the world and their sense of purpose.
Bad news on a personal level may also start to feel like nothing when someone is truly drained, which can do further harm to their relationships.
6. Their own hobbies and personal interests
Losing interest and pleasure in things that used to bring them joy is a common symptom for people experiencing depression, according to a 2025 study. With so much stress and so many intense emotions already existing internally and demanding their attention, they just don’t have the emotional energy to invest in their hobbies.
The same is often true for someone with compassion fatigue, feeling drained and exhausted by everything. Even the kinds of habits and hobbies that would bring them joy and take them to a better place emotionally are the last things they’re interested in creating space for.
7. Personal goals
For empaths who often struggle to find a balance between their own needs and everyone else’s, prioritizing their own goals can feel selfish, even when it’s very obviously not. It’s already a battle, and when they’re fatigued and burnt out, it becomes even less of a priority.
They come home and crash. They run on autopilot all day. They make excuses for avoiding discomfort and rituals that feed into their goals to find immediate comfort. They need true emotional rest, but in chaotic, demanding routines, it can feel difficult to find it.
8. Their own negative emotions
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Compassion fatigue often sparks a bunch of complicated emotions like sadness, stress, anger, and shame. Especially for people who tend to find meaning in helping others, feeling incapable of doing it can make them feel much worse about themselves.
However, at a certain point, these people may even become emotionally numb to these symptoms of their fatigue. They’re literally running on autopilot, with their minds and bodies trying to simply survive by blocking out all emotion.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
