For as long as I can remember I have always felt things deeply. Growing up, you could count me as one of the kids that got their feelings hurts easily because I wore my heart on my sleeve. Even as a young kid I felt others emotions, as if I had experienced what they had myself.
I distinctly remember always being called shy and I guess I just accepted that title but I wasn’t shy at all. I preferred to people watch, see how they interacted with others, learn them, if you will, before I spoke. Ha! But once I got to talking you couldn’t get me to stop - the same is true today.
An empath defined.
An empath is defined as one who experiences the emotions of others - a person who has a deep sense of empathy for others.
I don’t think the term, empath was widely known back in the 90s but oh boy could I have used the understanding I have now. Back then because I didn’t process stimuli the way others around me did, I was also called out for being “too sensitive”.
I can now proudly proclaim that I am an empathetic, passionate and sensitive person - who has learned how to use my deep feeling nature to set me a part from the crowd. I have rightly placed boundaries to allow myself to disconnect when I need to and only take on what I can at a given time. These days I prefer to direct those experiencing turmoil to a resource, instead of always being the resource.source souesoesws and worries and I would do my earnest to help them through.
Dr. Judith Orloff, a board-certified psychiatrist, has done a lot of work in this space. In her book, The Empath’s Survival Guide, she describes an empath as one that is more aware of the subtleties in their surroundings. Empaths have the innate ability to reflect, process and gather conclusions from what is going on around them. Her work, along with others in this space has allowed people like me to understand that being sensitive is a ‘normal’ trait - not something to work toward removing from my personality. Empathy is a trait to hone to bring your life great satisfaction. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list but generally speaking empaths are highly intuitive, struggle with not caring, great listeners, take on others feelings as their own, etc. If you can identify with many of these traits or has always wondered why you feel things so deeply, I suggest you do a quick Google search on this topic to find out more - along with reading Orloff’s book.
My realization.
I can now proudly proclaim that I am an empathetic, passionate and sensitive person - who has learned how to use my deep feeling nature to set me a part from the crowd. I have rightly placed boundaries to allow myself to disconnect when I need to and only take on what I can at a given time. These days I prefer to direct those experiencing turmoil to a resource, instead of always being the resource.
Test yourself!
Use the self assessment found here - on the Psychology Today site - to determine how empathic you are. Let us know in the comments what your results were.
Orloff, J. (2017). The Empath's Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People. Sounds True, Inc.
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