Occasionally partaking in schadenfreude doesn’t make a person bad but there are healthier ways to cope that result in more sustainable and long-lasting benefits. Neuropsychologist Judy Ho, PhD, suggests sharing such feelings with a trustworthy person. "There's a self-fulfilling prophecy here where you think you're the only person who does this and start to feel ashamed, so you isolate and do more of it," Ho says. "Open up the conversation. This is a universal thing."
Additionally, Ho advises taking social media breaks and practicing gratitude and mindfulness. Deriving joy in healthier ways can be as simple as noting what you’re grateful for or making a list of things you enjoy. When schadenfreude tries to come out, pull out a compilation of activities that spark joy to counteract it.
On the other hand, Lange believes that we don't necessarily need to combat schadenfreude since it serves important social functions.
"If, however, people want to combat it, then one strategy would be to increase one's self-esteem. A strategy that worked in previous research is self-affirmation. In self-affirmation, people affirm personal values that they hold strongly or recall their personal strength. Doing so increases people's self-esteem and therefore dampens emotional experiences that aim to increase people's self-esteem (e.g., schadenfreude)," he concludes.
