[todorus]

Neither does it his. It is a problem for some areas to the point it will completely erode the empathy of people who have to live with it. Their stake is not an internet argument, but a daily reality to deal with.

You can then argue that it's caused by mental illness and we should be empathetic, but I've talked to multiple people who actually worked in psych wards, my mother being one of them. They know they need to take care of them and be empathetic, but boy don't they all have stories to tell that has caused them to dehumanize them to some extent, or suffer burnout as the alternative.

Don't just empathize with the mentally ill, but also the others you so easily burden with doing the actual work.

[msrenee]

Are the only healthcare professionals you know in psych wards? Dark humor and "dehumanize"-ing patients is standard coping for nurses, doctors, and basically anyone else who deals with the physically and mentally ill. That doesn't mean that they don't have empathy for them and understand that there's a fundamental disconnect between societal norms and their behavior.

The person I replied to posted a laundry list of complaints about when those damn homeless jerks made them uncomfortable after saying they are so hard to empathize with. It's so whiny and disconnected from the actual hardships that caused these people to behave this way. Why can't they just be clean and polite and normal?