Empathy Can Drain: Emotional Contagion Leads to Burnout

Emotional contagion, where individuals absorb the feelings of others, often results in significant burnout without providing relief to those they aim to support. Research indicates that in high-empathy professions like social work, a staggering 50 to 75% of workers experience burnout due to constant emotional engagement with clients. This phenomenon is also evident in caregiver burnout, not only related to physical health issues such as cancer but increasingly associated with mental health challenges among loved ones. Furthermore, this shared emotional burden can lead to vicarious trauma, highlighting the toll that empathetic engagement can take on individuals who are in supportive roles.