Finding human suffering just so hard to take right now

[hippmammi]

I'm just finding it so hard to take it. Since becoming a parent two years ago, especially anything to do with children just absolutely kills me.

I keep breaking down in tears about things I'm watching and seeing on the news and media about children suffering.

I completely broke down when that poor boy died down the well in Morocco. It just absolutely killed me.

Now I keep seeing pictures of dead children in Ukraine. And then today I saw this heartbreaking video of a little toddler girl just shivering so much because she was cold. I think she was a refugee from Syria, just dressed in sandals.

I just keep thinking what's the point and how cruel the world is. I keep thinking about my little girl and how much she needs me and how much some children and parents have to suffer and it's absolutely breaking me.

What can I do ? Do I need to do more to help ? Or just bury my head in the sand and try to distract myself.

I'm in tears writing this. I'm not trying to make this all about myself, I just feel so incredibly sad for people going through these things. The world is so cruel. Can anyone relate ? Or am I being ridiculous. Sorry for such a depressing post. I keep crying and my husband asks me what's wrong and I say I'm just not feeling well because I'm pregnant. I'm embarrassed.

@Hibye23289 that poor innocent little boy. I was shocked with how much they showed.

I totally understand. I’m a lot older, always considered myself quite a tough person, seen some awful things in real life and coped with them. But I’ve found I’ve had to limit the news. I prefer to read than watch TV as that limits the images. We need to know how awful it is, but there is a limit to how much you can process. The more images you see, the more your mind is working to process that.
Give yourself a break from the news, listen to some music or read or just an hour’s mindless tv.

Thought this was apt op

@WhoAre
Christ almighty, you’re a nasty bag of unhelpfulness, aren’t you?

OP, it is totally understandable why you feel the way you do.
Yes, the world can be very cruel and unfair, and there’s little we can do to control things.
You will wear yourself out trying to help with so much. You can only do small things with great love.
I stay away from the news as much as possible. I know so much will set me off, then I’ll be of no use to man or beast.
I do prefer to be informed, but there comes a time when it all gets too much.
You are also pregnant. Crying comes very easily.
And it’s worth being here, despite all the heartache that goes on in this rollercoaster of life.
Being in nature helps.
You have so many lovely times to have with your little girl, and more joy when your next little one arrives.
You don’t have to deplete yourself, to try to help others right now. Your family need you. Take the very best of care and look after yourself 💐💐💐

Best thing you can do is take care of yourself to take care of your children. Some people are more empathetic than others and feel things more strongly. Once we have children I think we relate to anything to do with children around the same age or to how the mothers feel. Mine are all grown up now and I've worked in a hospital for a very long time with some very sad situations, the only times I've cried at work have been when I have identified with the situation in relation to being a mother. The scene that brought tears to my eyes on the news was of a Russian boy soldier being fed by Ukrainian women and allowed to use their phone to speak too his mother. How it can be right that 18 year old children, because boys are still children at that age, can be conscripted and sent to kill innocent people is so horrifying to me because I relate it to how I would feel if that was any of my sons. Step away from the news and perhaps find something new to do like wordle or a craft that will keep your mind distracted.💐

I think of myself as quite a stoic person but I had to turn the news off tonight when they showed the mother wailing over her wee babys body. It was harrowing.

Same OP. I have a couple of things I have seen on the news over the years (war related /parent and child related / sexual violence related) that I still think about, I almost feel haunted by the memories of the stories. I've always been sensitive and having children heightened it. I do have to limit my media intake on the war and I usually know what I can handle. But then I think to myself that I am privileged to even be able to sit here and wring my hands about this stuff, why am I making this all about me?? I also once read a quote from someone I really respect along the lines of it being our responsibility not to hide from distress in the world but to turn towards it... so I really don't know what the answer is or what's for the best. You so need to find the balance that works for you.

The tragedy of humanity is that we are smart enough to know we can be better. And too stupid to change.

I gave up years ago, I can't care about everyone else. I can only look after mine. It's absolutely selfish, but it was that or spiral.

I picture myself as the parent and my child as the one suffering - and then i just relate to the person i see on the TV - but can never truly imagine how they must feel.

@JanisMoplin

Please don't go on FB. It mines your sadness.

This.

I skip past the human suffering parts of the news as it doesn't help me or anyone else if I get upset.

As long as you have an idea of what is going on and donate what you can afford then that is all that matters.

You are perfectly normal in your reactions so you need to stop watching such distressing videos.

@WhoAre

You should be crying tears of joy that it's not your child being killed in such a cruel way.

Stop crying and start donating if you're that bothered. Also, children die all over the world every single day and have done since the beginning of time, its a hard thing to be aware of, and that awareness is heightened when you have children. Taking on other people's suffering isn't healthy. And it's strange. You're healthy and not in a war torn deprived area of the world, you should be happy.

I have to agree, if we got upset every time something bad happened wed all be hysterical all the time, people are always suffering and its not going to change because we get upset about it and start crying

YANBU to take a break from the news. And I think 24 hour rolling news channels are ridiculous, reporters following Ukranian refugees around asking them how they feel.

Your response is normal. Thank goodness we feel sadness when we are suffering. Imagine what cold creatures we'd be if we didn't.

When we see suffering, I mean.

OP. I feel the same.

Why don’t you just detach as much as possible from society? That’s what I do and it’s so much better