Compassion and Mental Health

Let’s start by explaining what Compassion is. 

Some say it is simply:  Empathy + Action = Compassion 

Compassion has been defined more detailed as a quality of noticing and attending to others needs and having a genuine concern for others well-being. People are often motivated because of wanting to remove suffering from others.

What does Compassion have to do with Your Mental Health?

As discussed by the Canadian Mental Health Association, there is a large body of scientific evidence that suggests that compassion in all its forms, is extremely impactful on robust mental health. You can give compassion, receive compassion and experience compassion.

Let’s talk about self-compassion. 

We often wrongly assume we know what others are going through or feeling. When we approach others and ourselves without judgment and therefore stigma, we can truly be compassionate and support healing. One strategy that can support being compassionate is taking a step back, avoiding assumptions, and then without judgment, practicing showing love and care. When we talk about giving compassion to others, it can often make more sense or seem easier than doing it for ourselves. 

Everyone is worthy of love, empathy, and compassion, always, including you.

Often we are hardest on ourselves. When we make mistakes or things are hard, we beat ourselves up for not being perfect or believe things about ourselves, like that we are bad or wrong in some way. 

What are some ways that you can think of where you are hard on yourself? 

Do you repeat negative statements about yourself? 

Do you limit trying things because you are ‘sure’ you will fail? 

Do you beat yourself up after making a mistake?

What if instead, we decided to choose to accept that we’re okay just the way we are. That we’re still worthy of love and belonging even when we make mistakes or things are hard. 

Compassion supports our mental health. When we accept ourselves, we are better able to be resilient when things get hard, are found to be happier, show less symptoms of mental health problems, and improve our quality of life (1).

Another way to support our own mental health and show compassion for ourselves is to ask for support, reach out to others, and get support from mental health professionals. 

The thing is, mental health is part of your health. It is not something bad or wrong, it is simply part of being human and taking care of ourselves sometimes means getting support. We have no problem going to the dentist for teeth care, just as we should have no problem talking to a therapist for mental health care. Working with a therapist can help you. 

Book a free consultation with a therapist today. 

Resources:  

Compassion Toolkit
How to Practice Self-Compassion: 8 Techniques and Tips
Self-Compassion Website

References:

1. Neff, K. D., (2023) Self-compassion: Theory, method, research, and intervention. Annual Review of Psychology. 73, 193-218. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-032420-031047