Emotional Exhaustion: How Our Brains Respond to Repeated Exposure to Trauma
We open our phones hoping for a few minutes of escape or connection—but instead, we’re met with images of devastation: families torn apart, communities under invasion, lives lost. The impact is not just upsetting, it’s exhausting.
This is emotional exhaustion in the age of constant crisis. Your brain, your body, and your nervous system are tired.
Our Brains Were Not Built for This
The human brain is wired for empathy and connection. When we witness distress, even through a screen, our mirror neurons fire, creating a sense of shared experience. Seeing images of violence, displacement, or captivity triggers the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for detecting threat. The result? Your body begins to prepare for danger, even if you’re relatively is a safer situation.
This repeated activation of the stress response, heart racing, shallow breath, tense muscles, without resolution is what researchers call cumulative or chronic stress. Over time, it taxes the nervous system and can lead to emotional burnout, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, irritability, and a deep sense of fatigue or helplessness.
Vicarious Trauma
While we often think of trauma as something that happens to us, vicarious trauma can happen simply by bearing witness to the pain of others, especially when the content is graphic or repeated. Social workers, therapists, and first responders are trained to recognize this, but now, it’s happening to everyday people scrolling social media.
For marginalized communities and those with lived experience of violence or migration, these images can reopen wounds. This is not “just social media fatigue,” it’s a grief, anger, fear, and hypervigilance experience.
The Emotional Toll of Always Watching
When we’re repeatedly exposed to crisis, especially in communities we identify with, it can feel like being stuck between two painful realities:
If I look away, I feel guilty.
If I keep watching, I feel like I’m drowning.
This tension creates a state of emotional paralysis, it’s like hitting the gas and the break at the same time. You might feel numb, disconnected, or emotionally “flat.” Or you might be constantly on edge, unable to relax even when things are quiet. Both responses are valid, and both are signs that your nervous system needs care.
What You Can Do That Doesn’t Involve Ignoring the World
You don’t have to choose between staying informed and staying regulated. Here are a few trauma-informed practices that can help:
Set boundaries around media consumption (e.g., no doomscrolling before bed, checking updates only once a day).
Limit graphic content and honor your body’s cues when something feels like “too much.”
Replace witnessing with action: If possible, donate, protest, or support mutual aid. Action can help channel helplessness into empowerment.
Talk about it: Emotional exhaustion thrives in silence. Connect with friends, therapists, or support circles who understand the weight of what you’re feeling.
Make space for joy and rest—not as a way to escape, but as a way to restore. Holding on to tention can contribute to long-term health effects. Joy and rest, even micro resting moments, can help the body release some tention. You don’t have to let go of all of it, but your body will thank you for the smallest amounts.
Final Thoughts
Emotional exhaustion from repeated exposure to trauma is a sign of your humanity. In a world that demands constant attention to crisis, tending to your nervous system is a radical act of resistance. It's how we sustain ourselves for the long haul because staying engaged doesn’t mean staying depleted.
De Aquí y De Allá
Elsa Matsumoto, LCSW-PMHC
