Compassion fatigue is a related, but milder, condition that is also often seen in helping professionals. Compassion fatigue is characterized by feelings of isolation, helplessness, numbness and avoidance. People with compassion fatigue often describe feeling burnt out, like they have nothing left to give to their clients or patients.

Thanks to our social media consumption, these symptoms might sound familiar to many Americans. But how are we to manage the negative mental health effects of witnessing war, a pandemic and disasters day after day on social media?

Some people are more resilient to the negative effects of vicarious trauma than others. Studies of helping professionals have shown that people with fewer existing stress management skills are at a higher risk for developing compassion fatigue and burnout. Those who manage stress via what the mental health field calls maladaptive coping mechanisms, such as excessive drinking, are more likely to develop serious secondary traumatic stress. Excessive self-criticism and relinquishing control in the face of trauma exposure were also found to be risk factors for secondary traumatic stress.

The amount of distressing content that you are viewing also matters. The more vicarious trauma you experience, the more likely you are to develop symptoms of secondary traumatic stress.