The Silent Strain: Compassion Fatigue in Animal Research Labs
By Shannon Dixon | June 11th, 2025
When empathy becomes exhausting…
Have you ever found yourself turning off the news, overwhelmed by the weight of global suffering and devastation? If so, you are not wrong for feeling that way – and you’re certainly not alone. This reaction may be a response to symptoms of secondary traumatic stress – more commonly referred to as compassion fatigue.
Now, imagine if you cannot turn it off. For people whose jobs consist of daily exposure to trauma, such as healthcare workers, social workers, and first responders, compassion fatigue is not a momentary feeling. It is a long-term emotional and mental toll that can be debilitating.
What is compassion fatigue?
Compassion fatigue is the mental and physical exhaustion that results from continuous exposure to the trauma of others. It is not just a feeling of being “burned out.” It can lead to symptoms including:
Anxiety and Depression
Substance abuse
Trouble sleeping
While traditionally associated with caregiving roles involving human patients, compassion fatigue also affects those who work with non-human animals. Veterinarians, animal rescue volunteers, slaughterhouse workers, and animal lab workers are especially vulnerable. Despite this, animal lab workers rarely receive the attention they deserve.
Who is most at risk?
The intensity of compassion fatigue symptoms can vary depending on several factors: the person’s level of empathy, how directly they engage with the trauma source, and the type of trauma they witness. These variables are particularly relevant in animal research labs, where employees may not only witness suffering but are involved in the treatment. The employees experience a tremendous emotional burden that is caused by the “constant making and breaking of human-animal bonds.”
A 2021 study surveyed 200 individuals involved in animal research, and 86% of the participants reported they had experienced compassion fatigue during their career. These findings highlight the prevalence of compassion fatigue in animal lab workers.
Animal laboratories create a particularly complicated emotional environment. Workers may be instructed to perform procedures that cause animals pain, harm, and even death – all in the name of science. Simultaneously, they are taught that this work is life-saving and honorable.
What can be done?
While Françoise Mathieu, author of The Compassion Fatigue Workbook, believes compassion fatigue is impossible to prevent. However, the effects of compassion fatigue can be mitigated.
First, it is crucial that individuals are able to recognize the symptoms of compassion fatigue. The ASPCA encourages their self-care tips to manage the symptoms of compassion fatigue. These include:
Outdoor walks with a friend
Reading
Separating work from personal life
Some large research institutions have launched compassion fatigue programs aimed at animal laboratory workers. Penn State provides resources for their researchers and animal care staff that include definitions of compassion fatigue, webinars, podcasts, counseling resources, and easy access to external programs. Unfortunately, there is no rigorous research that evaluates the effectiveness of these programs. This is due to the newness of the programs as well as the fact that compassion fatigue is relatively understudied.
Challenges
Despite the clear need for mitigation techniques at an institutional level to help these workers, there are numerous roadblocks that hinder progress. Financial constraints are a major obstacle – most labs operate under tight budgets, making it difficult to fund wellness programs for their workers. Cultural silence creates another challenge; institutions may avoid acknowledging compassion fatigue to prevent negative publicity and ethical criticism. Workers are often bound by non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that legally restrict them from discussing their experience in the labs. Additionally, labs often deflect emotional concerns by emphasizing the importance and necessity of their research, which can invalidate workers’ distress and grief.
These factors create a cycle of emotional isolation. Workers are left to manage their guilt on their own and told that their suffering is part of the job – justified by the greater good.
Acknowledgement is the first step
Compassion fatigue is not a flaw or a weakness. It is a human response and a natural consequence of empathy. Rather than silence these emotions, research institutions must honor them. If we truly value the people behind the science, we must protect their well-being alongside the integrity of their work. Acknowledgement, honest conversation, and accessible support are not optional–they are the basis of a healthier research environment.
Only by directly confronting this silent strain can we begin to heal it.
Work Cited
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Using 21st Century Science to Improve Risk-Related Evaluations. https://doi.org/10.17226/24635
Hartung, T. (2009). Toxicology for the twenty-first century. Nature, 460(7252), 208–212. https://doi.org/10.1038/460208a
EPA ToxCast Program. https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/toxicity-forecasting
The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Johns Hopkins University or Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
