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How compassion fatigue can turn to apathy

In the last year, we’ve seen devastating destruction and loss of life: Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Texas floods, wildfires in Los Angeles, the shooting of two lawmakers in Minnesota and the ongoing war in Gaza.

The scale of tragedy is difficult to comprehend, as our brains struggle with compassion fatigue and numbing. We hear from Paul Slovic, a psychologist and researcher studying decision making and apathy.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2025 WBUR

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