compassion

Is Avoiding Other People’s Suffering Good for Your Mental Health?

An international study finds that people who turn away from compassion have felt more depressed and anxious during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As COVID-19 ricocheted around the globe, millions of us sought shelter in retreat. Not only were we quarantining at home, we were putting up internal walls against the suffering we saw in the world. For more than a year, it’s been easy to justify an inward focus rather than an outward one.

About The Author

Greater Good Science Center

This article originally appeared on Greater Good, the online magazine of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley.

The Greater Good Science Center studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being, and teaches skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society.

Based at the University of California, Berkeley, the GGSC is unique in its commitment to both science and practice: Not only do we sponsor groundbreaking scientific research into social and emotional well-being, we help people apply this research to their personal and professional lives. Since 2001, we have been at the fore of a new scientific movement to explore the roots of happy and compassionate individuals, strong social bonds, and altruistic behavior—the science of a meaningful life. And we have been without peer in our award-winning efforts to translate and disseminate this science to the public.

The Importance of Self Care - A Cautionary Travel Tale

When I left China in 2008, I was dealing with very severe emotional burnout and compassion fatigue.

Instead of taking time for myself to recharge, I went deeper and deeper into the projects I was involved with. Instead of giving myself enough time to sleep or eat or even emotionally process things- I just kept on going.

Hoping I could be everything to everyone, I tried to solve everyone’s problems except my own. I didn’t realize how mentally unstable I had become.

About The Author

Nora Livingstone

Nora Livingstone is the Co-Founder and CEO of Animal Experience International, a B Corp that matches animal lovers with beneficial and adventurous volunteer experiences around the world. She has volunteered with animals in more than 25 countries, including Croatia, Mongolia, Sierra Leone, and Guatemala. Nora holds a double major from Trent University in Environmental Studies and Cultural Anthropology and holds internationally recognized certifications for guiding, leadership, crisis intervention, and deployment during natural disasters. She carries a tiny plastic horse and stuffed mouse with her every time she travels.
http://www.animalexperienceinternational.com/
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True Story: The Best Run Ever

One night I was on a run with my pooch, Dozer. We were winding our way up the hills of Oakland and I decided to take a turn up a street that I hadn’t been on before. I was pushing myself physically so I could push my way mentally through all my Inner Mean Girl' Big Fat Lies. The lies that tell me I’m not enough. The ones that say I am failing. The ones that complain of overwhelm and lack. (Yes, my dear ones, I coach what I am hungry for!) As we turned around to make our way back down the hill, I glanced at a house, only to see this gate:

About The Author

Amy Ahlers

Amy Ahlers, the Wake-Up Call Coach and bestselling author, is on a mission to stop women from being so darn hard on themselves. Since 2000, she has been an International Certified Success Coach, the CEO of Wake-Up Call Coaching, and co-founder of Inner Mean Girl Reform School with Christine Arylo, Visionary Ignition Switch with Lissa Rankin, and Find Your Calling with Lissa Rankin and Martha Beck. Her newest passion is supporting moms to embrace the whole truth of motherhood, messiness, and magic with the Mama Truth Circle.

Amy has been a featured expert on lots of TV & radio shows, and for media outlets like ABC, FOX, The Washington Post, and The Huffington Post. She loves lighting up the stage at events where she wakes people up to the voice of their Inner Wisdom and helps them cultivate the courage to act on it. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter, inspiring women to find the everyday sacred.

Her first book, Big Fat Lies Women Tell Themselves: Ditch your Inner Critic and Wake Up Your Inner Superstar (New World Library, 2011), shot up to #1 in several categories on Amazon, including Self-Help, Happiness, and Self-Esteem. Her next book, Reform Your Inner Mean Girl: 7 Steps to Stop Bullying Yourself and Start Loving Yourself, she co-wrote with Christine Arylo and is due out in April of 2015 from Beyond Words.

A 2010 recipient of the Women Who Dare Award from Girls Inc., she holds a BA from the University of California, earned the CPCC designation from The Coaches Training Institute, and is a Master Coach Equivalent. Amy is known best for her unconditional love, relentless enthusiasm, and kick ass truth telling. You can often find Amy in the San Francisco Bay Area holding hands with her husband, Rob, as they run after their firecracker daughters, Annabella and Evie Rose.

Sunset silhouette of a person alone at the edge of a lake.

Is Avoiding Other People’s Suffering Good for Your Mental Health?

10/20/2021

Greater Good Science Center

An international study finds that people who turn away from compassion have felt more depressed and anxious during the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 ricocheted around the globe, millions of us... read more

Woman with face tied in string, yelling.

The Importance of Self Care - A Cautionary Travel Tale

01/28/2020

Nora Livingstone

When I left China in 2008, I was dealing with very severe emotional burnout and compassion fatigue. Instead of taking time for myself to recharge, I went deeper and deeper into the projects I was... read more