Is There Such A Thing As An Empath, I Think I'm One, Just Realising It

[ZenTwizzle]

I apologize if this is a repeat as I thought I posted this but didn't see it come up so I might have screwed it up.. Anyway. I had an epiphany today in the sense that I recognized that I think I might be what they call an empath and it has caused a whole lot of struggle that had I known and had some guidance I might have navigated better. I am the person who absolutely feels the emotion of other people. I don't just empathize, I grieve , I feel the pain of another and I carry it as if it is my own. I can't watch sad movies, it will depress me for like forever because I feel it so deeply and I think I really have walled myself off because I can't handle others pain along with my own. I still don't know exactly how to deal with it other than I feel like I have this so I can help, but also feel so burdened, so ? exactly how fucked up am I? lol

[Sarah Marie]

@ZenTwizzle I am an empath and medium. I took me lots of therapy and help to come to terms with this and learn to control it. I used to feel like I was on a roller coaster. Learn grounding and meditation. Also try to figure out the difference between your feelings and others. I also can't tell you how many times I just "know" things like my friends being pregnant. I will look at them and just know, it is very strange. 

[ZenTwizzle]

thank you for replying, I don't know anyone I could say that to and them understand. I really am trying to understand everything, but this one kills me, because I don't know how it helps others and it kills me

 

 

[Argue]

Just now, ZenTwizzle said:

thank you for replying, I don't know anyone I could say that to and them understand. I really am trying to understand everything, but this one kills me, because I don't know how it helps others and it kills me

 

 

My best suggestion is to seek professional help if it's something that's truly bothering you. Search up some licensed professionals on Google. sorry if that's minor information but I'm trying my best to help you out.  

[ZenTwizzle]

thx. but that is no help. it is out of their realm to help.

[Sarah Marie]

@ZenTwizzle The people that hoped me the most were:

• Psychologist (they have to have their PHD) 
• Mediums who let me mentor them
• Taking classes on energy like reiki and grounding
• Educating myself by reading books

The key to being an empath is learning how to set boundaries and protections. The problem is a lot of people get airy fairy on you and start talking about a bunch of new age hippie shit. I am a very scientific minded person so when my therapist told me this was what I was I thought he was mis diagnosing me. Being an empath is not totally understood and many people will make you feel crazy but keep an open mind and learn protection and grounding. 

[TheFrown]

1 hour ago, ZenTwizzle said:

thx. but that is no help. it is out of their realm to help.

Sorry if this comes off as harsh.

How do you know that? You try one and it didn't work? Then try another one. And Another One.

We all feel like we are special or different. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. US. 

We are not.

There are plenty of treatable and manageable conditions that are in line with the symptoms of extreme empathy or loss of ones self around others. Don't isolate yourself and take on the burden alone.  If you are having problems functioning in your daily life seek help. There is no shame in this.

[FindingPeace]

We are all empathic to varying degrees. It is wired in to our brains. Other creatures are too, especially noticable in dogs.

5 hours ago, ZenTwizzle said:

I am the person who absolutely feels the emotion of other people. I don't just empathize, I grieve , I feel the pain of another and I carry it as if it is my own. I can't watch sad movies, it will depress me for like forever because I feel it so deeply and I think I really have walled myself off because I can't handle others pain along with my own.

There is nothing fundamentally odd or unique about this. It is just at the more intense end of the spectrum of empathy.

Bit of science here: our brains have 'mirror' neurons. They are designed to mirror the emotions of others. Most people don't realise this is going one but when we are talking to another person we are subtly mirroring their facial expressions and using the sensation of that to 'feel' what they are feeling. This has been proven. It's why smiles are contagious. It gives us empathy so that we can experience what others are feeling and this compels us to help or in some way support one another emotionally. It is a function of our social evolution.

So we feel the emotions and pain of others, even when it isn't real, like in a movie. This is normal. It's just that the extent to which we feel the emotions of others varies from person to person. Some people have very little empathy.

5 hours ago, ZenTwizzle said:

so ? exactly how fucked up am I? lol

You're not. You're just slightly more sensitive than most.

[Isle of View]

7 hours ago, ZenTwizzle said:

Is There Such A Thing As An Empath, I Think I'm One, Just Realising It

Yes there is something like being an Empath.

To some degree we all have this capacity, but our current "western" society is too much oriented on the physicality of the existence and our psychic powers are being neglected all to often.

First check the definitions of the word empathy itself:

Quote

 

Simple Definition of empathy

: the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions : the ability to share someone else's feelings

Full Definition of empathy

1:  the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it

2:  the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariouslyexperiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectivelyexplicit manner; also :  the capacity for this

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empathy

 

 

What I would recommend to you, is to learn to shift your focus. Be aware of what you put your attention on and learn to deliberately move it to different things. It's like changing the focus of your eyes. As an example, when you are in the mountains and you want to take a picture, you look through the lens and you can decide what you will focus on when you shoot the picture. It's similar here. You can decide if you will focus on emotions or the physical apperance of the person in front of you.

There are also some exercises you can do to learn to move your attention/focus deliberately, One of them is very simple, just go some place and move your attention to an object, say, a tree. Acknowledge it and move to a different object. Be fully aware that YOU are selecting where your focus will go to, how long it will stay there and that it is YOU who selects the next object. Do it until you feel better. 

I've also written up another simple process you can use at home. It may help you to deal with all the accumulated energies:
http://www.actualized.org/forum/topic/1222-my-problem-when-doing-contemplation/#comment-12454

I am myself highly empathetic, but I see it as a blessing rather then a curse. But it took me a while before I could fully accustom to and integrate the "powers" and to some degree it is an ongoing process. You should appreciate them. And work on your focus, and aswell learn methods to discharge all the accumulated energies. 

In my case, I was highly psychic and empathetic in my younger years, but then in the course of my life it went dornant (because "such things don't exist", you know) until when I started my spiritual journey and it, all at once, slapped in my face. Hard. It took me some years to learn to fully appreciate it and to learn to deliberatly switch my focus at will. 

With the best wishes,
Chris

 

Edited February 29, 2016 by Isle of View

[ZenTwizzle]

I thank all for your responses, even The Frown ( an apt moniker if I do say so myself). It's not that I'm not functioning, I'm just aware that I feel other people's emotions seemingly more intensely and take them on as my own and it is draining. I'm off to read the article mentioned above and just hoping to come up with some better coping mechanisms. I for one think the world could use more empathy , just not to the extent that it alters your own energy field. Thanks for all input though.

[Isle of View]

3 hours ago, ZenTwizzle said:

I'm just aware that I feel other people's emotions seemingly more intensely and take them on as my own and it is draining.

I understand that, but while it is true, your current attitude towards this circumstance may cause you yourself to add some of your own "juice" to the mix. Just work on releasing all of it (the above processes actually helped me a lot), learn to differentiate your own emotions from those from others (and I know it's not as easy as it sounds, but you'll get there) and train on your deliberate focus. 

 

[ZenTwizzle]

Thank you Chris, you have been very helpful and am applying your process from your other post. every baby step helps.

[Isle of View]

7 hours ago, ZenTwizzle said:

Thank you Chris, you have been very helpful and am applying your process from your other post. every baby step helps.

Thank you.

Let me know when you want some extra advice or want comment or share something. Here or over PM.

Kind regards, 
Chris

 

[cosmicrays]

Whenever I see a hungry dog, I will feed it because I cannot stand watching it sarve. People will watch me curously and most of the time in disdain as my act is a source of a false act trying to impress somebody. 

I cannot stand the sight of blood. I get immediately turned off when I see someone injured as it deeply resonates with me as it is my own blood. 

But sometimes I can pick up the good & cheerful mood of others and I feel happy around them.

[BobbyLowell]

@ZenTwizzlethis means you feel all the good stuff that other people experience too right? Life has good and bad in it but the good outweighs the bad. Personally, I love feeling. Also, though, I suggest you place yourself around positive external factors, maybe don't watch it read super sad stuff and don't hang around negative people unless it is someone you should be there for. This also means that you are super empathetic of others, which is a very positive quality. Love this quality, it is something good that makes you you