Tag: empathy

I am not immune to what I call weaponized empathy, which I see as the pure intention of compassion for another tainted with aggression around eradicating pain, pain that could be a source of growth for the sufferer if allowed to arise and pass away without force.

A new study suggests that taking antidepressants impairs empathy, while the experience of depression itself does not.

Users of the substance ‘MDMA’ are reported to have higher emotional empathy than users of other drugs.

Knowing the client’s history can help foster genuine empathic responding, a key component to child-centered play therapy.

An updated meta-analysis reveals that therapist empathy is a predictor of better psychotherapy outcomes.

There’s a very common, pop-psychology, new-age misconception that conflates being empathic with being caring and compassionate. But some of the most highly empathic people I’ve ever known have been con artists, grifters, unrepentant thieves, cynically manipulative fearmongering politicians, and heartless predators of every kind.

From The Globe and Mail: "From Abraham to the Aztecs, ancient cultures exacted human sacrifices to appease the gods – that is, to soothe...

From Kaiser Health News: "Two torturous days later, Jeff Duncan came home. While he returned to rehab, the Duncans decided their approach wasn’t working....

The effect of individual expectations on treatment outcomes is found to be influenced by physician attributes.

From Science of Us: The Washington, D.C., Rape Crisis Center, Collective Action for Safe Spaces, and ReThink, an organization that works to prevent sexual assault,...

From The Washington Post: Research shows that while empathy is an essential ingredient for building relationships, feeling overwhelmed by others' emotions can lead to health...

From Business Insider: According to Stanford professor Robert Sutton, some rising workplace trends seem sure to make the office a more toxic place in the...

Today a Massachusetts judge sentenced Michelle Carter for the crime of manslaughter in the suicide death of her boyfriend. I was the only psychiatric and medication expert on either side in this trial, and I testified on behalf of Michelle. Other than perhaps her lawyers, I probably know more about the true story than anyone else.

From Aeon: As technological change reduces the demand for human jobs in scientific and cognitive fields such as software engineering, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing, future...

From The Atlantic: New research suggests that power may impair neural processes involved in feeling empathy and understanding others' perspectives. Recalling experiences of powerlessness can help...

Researchers distinguish between two different forms of perspective taking and examine their impact on helpers’ wellbeing.

In this interview for Vox, Yale psychologist Paul Bloom provides a critical perspective on empathy and explains why empathy may be harmful in the long run. "My beef...

From Aeon: We typically think of empathy as an emotions-based state that involves feeling another's distress or joy. However, cognitive, rationalist empathy involving reasoned perspective-taking may...

I wanted to spare you, my son, from suffering like I did. I wanted to give you every opportunity I could. You have grown into a good man, a caring and successful man, yet you still have to fear for your life in this country. You still feel pain when you see what is happening.

Professionals across the Western world, from a range of disciplines, earn their livings by offering services to reduce the misery and suffering of the people who seek their help. Do these paid helpers represent a fundamental force for healing, facilitating the recovery journeys of people with mental health problems, or are they a substantial part of the problem by maintaining our modestly effective and often damaging system?

The medication left me emotionally numb, making it impossible to connect with people or sense the aliveness of the world around me. But after two years on antidepressants, I found something that gave me jolt of feeling strong enough to wake me up for a moment. I then spent the next seven years giving myself daily doses of horror to induce an emotional reaction.

"Our findings show that empathy with an out-group member can be learned, and generalizes to other out-group individuals," a research team led by Grit Hein of the University of Zurich writes in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Day 3 of WNYC Only Human’s radio show, called Listen Up, focuses on the importance of listening with empathy. They interview Ken Feinberg, a mediator who met with victims after the September 11th attacks, the Sandy Hook shootings, and the Boston marathon bombing.

Seeing others in pain may engage some of the same neural pathways as experiencing pain yourself, according to a new study covered by ScienceNow.