Empathy is Not A Sign of Weakness

I can’t stay silent on this anymore, and as much as I want to stay out of all things political, I just can’t let Elon Musk get away with this one. We need to talk about why having empathy isn’t a weakness, and why we need to be vocal as therapists when we hear something wrong in the political world.

I’m going to get in a lot of trouble for saying what I’m going to say today, but I actually don’t care. I think there are times where we have to say what we need to say. And we have to stand up for what’s right. And we have to do our jobs macro, our global jobs as mental health professionals. And I think that time is now. The world is going crazy, and regardless of what opinions you have and what side of the political views you have, fine. But there are things happening that we as mental health professionals have to speak up about. Now if you’ve been following my channel for a while, been following me, or been following the SFBT moments video series for a while, then you know that I’m usually here talking about Solution Focused Brief Therapy and how people can get better at this approach. But you will also know that I take my role as a psychotherapist and a mental health professional very, very seriously. And I take my position as a leader in the psychotherapy field equally as seriously. And I think now is the time to make a statement from that position. And again, regardless of what your position is on these opinions, I think as mental health professionals, because if you’re here, you are likely mental health professional. As mental health professionals, we have a responsibility to speak up and speak loudly. We have a responsibility to speak truth when untruths that are impacting people are circulating. For example, Elon Musk, who is currently playing a big role in the political landscape here in America, was being interviewed on a large platform and said that he believes empathy is a human weakness. Now, as mental health professionals, we happen to know that empathy is actually a tremendous sign of your mental health strength. The presence of empathy is one of the things we measure to be able to determine someone’s quality of their mental health. The presence of high levels of empathy is a really good thing. The absence of empathy is a really bad and scary thing. We literally use that as diagnostic criteria to some very serious diagnosis. Things like bipolar disorder, things like narcissistic personality disorder, things like psychopathic disorders, things like sociopathic disorders. We that we use that to measure the importance of some really critical diagnosis that impact people and impact things. And we have a responsibility, in fact, we have a societal duty that when people say these things, just because they’re wealthy and just because they’re on large platforms doesn’t make it true or accurate. We are educated in this field, we are licensed in this field, and if we don’t speak up, then no one knows, and people hear him say that and they’re just like, “Oh, my God, that must be true.” And then because they think it’s true, they become less empathetic. They become less empathic in their work and in their actions. They become less empathic in the way they treat their neighbors and the people around them. I think to view the idea that being empathic is a weakness literally means, being nice to others is a problem. It literally means that, taking care of people around us is a sign of weakness. But it’s actually a sign of strength. And we know that. We do not have the ability or even the right, right now, to be silent. We need to speak up when these things are happening. And I know you guys are like me, regardless of what your political opinions are, when you see untruths that speak directly to things related to mental health, it must frustrate you. It has to. So we need to speak up and speak loudly. We need to take to social media. We need to use our platforms to add truth and transparency to this landscape. Whatever decisions people make politically, they’re going to make. But let’s at least make sure there’s accurate information about what these things are in relation to the stuff that’s in our remit, the stuff that falls within our sweet spot, the stuff that we are trained and credentialed to do. We cannot just sit quietly and let somebody go off and say that empathy is a weakness, because that’s not true. And lots of people are going to hear that. And if we don’t speak up about it, who is. I think mental health professionals are among the most important jobs in our society. Not only because on a one-on-one basis, we take care of people’s mental health. And not only do we help people heal from traumas and anxieties and depressions and the things that impact us as we go through this life, but also because we stand on the front line dealing with some really critical things. And in the world we live in now, it is very important that we speak up. Now, use your voice and speak up against wrongs and injustices and racism and all kinds of other things. But more importantly, let’s use our voices to just speak truth into the landscape. Let’s use our voices to jump on social media and say, actually, that thing that person just said is not true as it relates to mental health. I don’t want to debate what we think of what’s going on at the border or what we think of this policy of that policy. But we are 100% positioned to say what that person just said about mental health or about empathy or about human behavior is inaccurate. And we need to speak up collectively, the organizations in our field and us as individuals who carry the degrees and licenses and education and experience that we have, and say that’s actually not true. Empathy is a very important data point that we look at frequently in our diagnostic criteria, and the absence of it is a very scary thing and causes us to start thinking about some very significant access to diagnoses. And you guys know that. But we let people get away with saying empathy is a weakness. It’s not true. Empathy is a strength and we pay attention to that as mental health professionals, and we know that. But no one says anything. So this video is a call to action. When we hear these politicians speaking about mental health issues as if these things are facts for the purposes of furthering their message, when they are inaccurate things they’re saying, we need to speak up. We need to put truth, transparency and honesty into this world if we have any shot of being the kind of society that I think we all want to be. So thank you for watching this video. Sorry, it’s a little bit of a departure from talking about Solution Focused Brief Therapy, but I think this is even more important. Let’s use our voices to add sanity, accuracy. Let’s use our experience and expertise to influence what society is paying attention to, because we know the truth about these mental health issues and we need to take it upon ourselves to educate people on what is real and what is not as it relates to mental health. That’s why you’re here. That’s why you have the degree, the education, the license, the experience and the knowledge that you have. Let’s start sharing it and make this world a better place by adding honesty and truth and accuracy to the conversation.