Home→Forums→Emotional Mastery→Empaths Online
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August 25, 2016 at 3:24 pm #113275AnonymousInactive
Hi, everyone, it’s Aiyana. I kind of have an announcement to make. I’ve told only three people IRL about this, but I feel that I might as well share it on the Internet. I’m an Empath. When a therapist told me that I was on, I was very skeptical. I was self-aware of the term “empathy,” but I didn’t think it was actually a real thing. When I experienced other people’s emotions around me, and the environment in general, I started to realize that maybe this was a real thing after all. This explains so much as to why I’m always very sensitive, feeling intense, anything that leads to an emotional overload. I always thought it was due to being a teenager. Are there any other empaths out there? Please tell me your experiences. I want to gain tips to differ my emotions from others.
P.S. I also have Asperger’s Syndrome. I get into an overload of just socializing. I hope this helps!
August 25, 2016 at 9:08 pm #113286AnonymousGuestDear Aiyana:
I am not familiar with the term Empath. I read people describing themselves as empaths but I don’t think it is an official medical or mental health term.
When you announce that you are an empath, do you mean that you are very empathetic to other people? Do you mean that you have an unusual, supernatural, maybe, ability to feel what other people feel?
What does being an empath mean to you?
anita
August 26, 2016 at 8:23 am #113307DTyankParticipantHi Aiyana
I’m an empath.
Usually these people are the opposite to psychopaths, most probably because you have lived and grown up around them i.e; abusive people that have no empathy towards you. They can be unpredictably violent and put there needs first. As such you grow in a different direction. I find empaths are usually very intelligent and caring people and are concerned about the needs of others. You may have personality disorder or a mental disorder like OCD.
Emapaths read other people well, including their facial expressions and emotions, this is due to growing up around people who are unpredictable, violent, abusive and uncertain. You may have many problems due to this trait, social disorders, anxiety, obsessiveness, fear of the unknown and future but you are a beautiful soul so keep persevering and never give up!
I would love to get to know more people like me so hit me up!
Dave
August 26, 2016 at 3:42 pm #113356AnonymousInactive@Anita, being an empath isn’t a medical condition. I can’t fully explain it,but I have a tendency to read off people’s energy. I think it’s due to having a very sensitive soul. If this is the case, that means I can use my sensitivity in a good way. I have to remind myself that every emotion I feel isn’t my own.
@davemd, good to hear from another empath. I only have Asperger’s and have gone through anxiety. Other than that,nothing too extreme. I just have one question though. If we’re empath, how do we help other people?August 26, 2016 at 7:21 pm #113373AnonymousGuestDear Aiyana Henderson:
You mean that sometimes you feel emotions that are not yours, but someone else’s? That is it is not you who are feeling it… it is like you have the ability to read someone else’s heart?
Can you tell what someone else is thinking (can you read their mind)? OR only what they are feeling?
anita
August 27, 2016 at 7:13 am #113402DTyankParticipant@Aiyana Henderson
Helping others is probably a part of who you are, you can help them to recognize their emotions and the way they think and at the same time learn for yourself, I like to do both because I have multiple personality disorder and it can sometimes be hard for me to recognize my own problems. Looking outwardly can help me to understand myself a little better but I guess it can be a dangerous thing to when you don’t face your own convictions.
We can help ourselves through helping others. Empaths are good at reading micro messages and could be valued hypnotists which, is related to anxiety problems. The ability to read others well comes from being in unpredictable situations or environments. You might find that you have full or partial eye movements however, it takes time to discover your abilities. I have full eye movements and related behaviors. I am also quite autistic and have autistic behaviors, I’m obsessive, have compartmentalized memory and personalty traits.
Yes I do recognize and read other people emotions, I even experience their trauma. Surprisingly their are some people that I can’t even empathize with, these people have had very tragic and very traumatic lives! They say that if you think you can read somebody elses mind then you are clinically insane however, there is something unique about empaths in that on a subconscious level they can understand people very well, solve complex problems but at the same time lack simple problem solving ability. I’m not speaking for everyone here, just from my own experiences, everybody is unique and special, we all have our own gifts. I also hate my own flaws, I hate sin, I love nature and learning, I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I also feel a lot of guilt due to trauma.
Predictive thinking, looking at patterns of thinking, thought process’, philosophy, ideology, flawed and false beliefs, psychology, psychiatry, spirituality, physics and having a good broad knowledge of all disciplines helps you to understand people more intimately but I guess empaths pick this stuff up from their environments, plus some of it will be genetic.
August 27, 2016 at 7:56 am #113413AnonymousGuest* Dear davemd: I appreciate your comment addressed to me. But since this thread was started by another member, the original poster, I only reply to the original poster. If you would like to start your own thread, I will reply there. If you would like, that is, click FORUMS, choose a CATEGORY, click it, go down the page.
anitaAugust 27, 2016 at 9:28 am #113423AnonymousInactive@Anita yes. I can feel other’s emotions. I’m not telepathic. I only want to learn more on not having their emotions as my own. Although it would be nice to know what other people thought, that would be too much for me.
@Davemd, I can’t believe you’re autistic and have a multiple personality disorder. When were you diagnosed with your disabilities? I have a support group online.August 27, 2016 at 10:37 am #113441DTyankParticipantHi Aiyana!
Surprisingly, I actually don’t have a disability LOL. It’s technically a disorder and not an illness. A disease is something you can’t overcome (permanent illness that is un-treatable like bipolar). Whereas a disorder is a developmental condition that with the right conditioning can be brought back to normality, but what is normality? Although it is very serious, it is far too complex and is not yet integrated into DSM IV, however, you may want to check out “schema therapy” <= search for this and you might better understand yourself including “schema modes” and modulation.
I tend to re=process my thoughts, I think backwards and thus acknowledge a lot of information but at the same time suffer greatly.
I was diagnosed only 2 years ago with mixed personality disorder, anxiety disorder but have come to discover multiple (distinct) personalities, different perspectives, emotions, though process’, memories and beliefs can exist at any one time, it’s like having my own personal board of directors.
I have had other problems like PTSD, childhood trauma and adult trauma too (I watch children dying from AIDS), but not to wallow in self pity, I am an empath, technically a genius but I have other problems that affect my life in a substantial way.
You are obviously a very intelligent and special person, too me and your spiritual beginnings you are a very valuable person. I think it’s great that you have discovered spirituality as a path of discovery for who you are. After all, is mental illness not created by man? through deceit? lies? abuse? primitive behavior?, the curses of your forefathers, intellectualism?, the stress’ of daily life and the pressures put upon us, while your therapist works upon theories of pragmatism, you have walked the walk and I respect that.
You live inside an evolution matrix of philosophy, a spiritual guide of prophetic dreams to bring you back to the one who created you. Never forget to bless those who curse you, face your convictions, have honour, respect and integrity. You are clearly a godly women and God is standing by your side.
For you…
“Some say that it’s not the destination that you stand but the direction in which you look and that is the true measure of success, but it is the destination that you stand because you stand with God, with honour in your heart, integrity to do the right things and the courage to face your convictions and if you make mistakes you make them because God wants you to make them and he forgiveness you where you stand in your destination with him and that is the path that you will walk, towards him on a path of his choosing.”
God bless you!
August 27, 2016 at 10:59 am #113444AnonymousGuestDear Aiyana:
You wrote: “I only want to learn more on not having their emotions as my own.” When I think that I am feeling someone else’s emotions (and I have and do often), I sometimes check with the other person: How are you feeling right now? Or: Are you feeling this way…?
Often I get it right when I notice distress on someone’s face or in someone’s voice. But often (!) I don’t get the details of the distress correctly. I think a person is distressed over one thing when he or she is distressed about another thing.
It is not difficult, I believe, to notice when another person is distressed because of facial expressions, voice quality, body language.
To not let another person’s distress affect you, bring you down, that’s a tough one for me. I say to myself at times: this person’s distress is not my fault, I didn’t cause it. That makes me feel better sometimes. I have a neighbor who was distressed so very often, almost all the time so I stopped visiting with her. So different tools/ solutions with different people.
anita
August 27, 2016 at 3:04 pm #113454AnonymousInactiveBoth of you have great insight. I’ll do my best. Dave, I doubt this is a religious matter. I was raised by religion,but these days I stick to yoga and meditation. Thanks for your advice Anita.
August 27, 2016 at 4:11 pm #113456AnonymousGuestYou are welcome, Aiyana Henderson. Anytime.
anitaAugust 27, 2016 at 10:08 pm #113471VJParticipantHi Aiyana Henderson,
I am an Empath as well as an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person).
1) To answer your question “If we’re empath, how do we help other people?” –
You can do exactly the way as suggested by @davemd as below-
“Helping others is probably a part of who you are, you can help them to recognize their emotions and the way they think and at the same time learn for yourself….We can help ourselves through helping others”This is exactly what I do, as I can tune-in to others problems. Having these gifts and qualities is exactly one of the reasons I have joined this website.
2) To answer this note of yours “I only want to learn more on not having their emotions as my own” –
I do not wish for you that you just “live with it”.
So if you are willing to bring about a positive change in your life then you can think of Bach remedies to soothe your
situation. Have you heard of Bach rememdies before? They are nature’s gift to mankind….straight from the Divine. I am also using them for similar problems after going through the below post, and I want to help you with the same.Take a look at this post. (It is my request to patiently go through the link fully)
http://www.flowerspirit.co.uk/3-bach-flower-remedies-for-hsps/The post’s title is about HSP, but also depicts about empathising. In my experience being an HSP and an Empath are almost similar.
Even in most of your comments above you have used words of “Empath” and “sensitive soul” in the same post.
So don’t worry whether you are an Empath or an HSP or both. Just go through the post and you will be able to relate it to yourself.There is also a quick test on this link
For your information, among the remedies mentioned on the above link I am currently using WALNUT and MIMULUS, and a few additional remedies for other kinds of problems. They are safe to use as they are just flower essences. Do not worry about it’s availability as they are available at most places over the web.
Please feel free and do not hesistate to write back.
Warm regards,
VJAugust 28, 2016 at 9:51 pm #113570Miniature BodhisattvaParticipantAiyana Henderson,
I soak up other’s feelings/energies like a sponge. I’m struggling right now with a very toxic colleague who constantly mutters negative things over the cubicle wall. How I’ve coped is when I feel the negativity seeping in I immediately say, “not mine” and imagine a shield of white light blocking out her energies. (Sometimes I’ll put on headphones to block out the sound, even if I’m not listening to music.) Identifying what emotions are yours vs. others is key to nipping any reaction in the bud. You are only responsible for your own emotions, not those of others. Keep feeding that message to your brain.
Anyone who is empath/highly sensitive also needs to be really good at establishing boundaries. Unfortunately a lot of people take advantage of your nature and will dump all their emotions on you. Until you build up better defenses, avoid or limit your interactions with these psychic vampires. Sometimes I’ll cut somebody off and say, “excuse me, [person’s name], I have to use the rest room” or “unfortunately I can’t talk, I have to get this done.” (Notice in each example I did not invite them to continue the conversation later.) Do this enough and they’ll get the hint to move on.
Hope that’s helpful!
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