We live in an age where tragedy is no longer distant. It is livestreamed, refreshed every few seconds, and placed between a cooking reel and a meme. And with every swipe, we feel a little less. Not because we are heartless, but because we are exhausted.

This is the quietest global crisis of our time: empathy burnout - the emotional fatigue of ever being constantly connected with human suffering.

Over the years, psychologists thought that empathy was unlimited. Today, it has been found to the contrary: empathy is stamina-like. It drains. It needs rest. And in the digital era, it gets none.

Consider the way we are drinking world sorrow. You see a Palestinian kid crying because of a ruined house. And a few seconds later, you end up laughing at a pet video. Next, there is a domestic violence testimony, and then a light-hearted vlog. The whiplash of emotions is bloody. We are expected to feel everything: grief, fury, hope,........

© The Express Tribune