Arab News Acknowledges Psychic Numbing Amidst the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

By Kacy Cheslek and Scott Slovic

The levels of death and destruction in the current war between Israel and Palestine are reaching overwhelming heights. The scope of damage is so large that it is difficult to wrap our minds around it, causing us to be less compassionate and more apathetic. Journalists throughout the world are now using concepts related to the Arithmetic of Compassion to explain what’s happening with public responses to information about such crises. For example, Kerry Boyd Anderson refers to “psychic numbing” and “compassion fatigue” in her Arab News article “Overwhelming suffering should not stop us from trying to help,” which was published Nov. 26, 2023. At the time we are writing this, the number of deaths from the war have reached over 30,000 and public attention continues to wane. The point Anderson makes in her article is more important now than ever.  

Destruction in Gaza in October 2023. Photo credit: Naaman Omar/apaimages licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED

There are several ways we can take action against psychic numbing to bring about real change. Focusing our efforts on one or two issues that can be combatted with feasible tasks, possibly in our own communities, can have a far reach. If we can cultivate our feelings of empathy into motivation for action, then we can rise above the hatred and distrust—and the indifference caused by psychic numbing—that have grown in our communities since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began.

For additional reading on how to overcome compassion fatigue, see the following:

A Washington Post Article on Ways to Overcome Hope Fatigue / Sept. 14, 2022

How I Resist Psychic Numbing / Jan. 21, 2021

Overcoming Pseudoinefficacy with the Collective Aggregation Effect / May 30, 2019