Empathy is the ability to recognize, comprehend, and share the feelings of another person. It differs from sympathy in many ways, as the latter is a feeling of care and concern for someone, not sharing their emotions.
Empaths are high on the empathic spectrum, which gives them an incredible compassion for people. However, this also makes them drained by feeling too much, a problem which is quite difficult to overcome.
How To Recognize An Empath
1. Sensitivity
Empaths are hypersensitive individuals who tend to hide their emotions in order to avoid being an inconvenience to others.
2. They absorb emotions
Empaths are great at absorbing emotions and literally feeling the pain another person.
3. Introverts
Empaths enjoy spending time alone as they are so in-tune with others` emotions. To avoid being rude, they are oftentimes extroverted introverts.
4. They love deeply
Empaths are extremely compassionate and always care about their family, friends, and the society in general. They are capable of loving deeply and being appreciative for those in their lives.
5. Easily taken advantage of
Empaths are not weak, but their ability to comprehend others makes them a target for manipulators.
6. Highly intuitive
Empaths have great intuition which helps them make crucial decisions based on their gut. They are fully aware of the universe and have the ability to pick up on more than you might assume.
7. They’re Easily Stressed
Given that empaths feel emotions so intensely, it`s no wonder they get easily overwhelmed and stressed.
8. They are human lie detectors
Empaths have various capabilities when it comes to reading others. They are great at reading people, detecting lies, and seeing through people`s masks.
9. They give too much
Empaths are always willing to help others, oftentimes at their own expense. Prioritizing others an putting them first often is likely to cause an emotional trauma.
10. They heal with nature
Last but not least, empaths are great nature-lovers and enjoy spending time outdoors. They relish any time spent outdoors and will always take any opportunity given to be in nature. Nature serves as a source of positive energy for these people and they use it to replenish their positive vibes.
How To Protect Yourself If You Are An Empath
Although being an empath can be an amazing gift, it is oftentimes a heavy responsibility. Being able to deal with their emotions is of utmost importance, not to mention those emotions of the people around them. There are the ways to protect yourself while still caring for those around you:
- Look out for narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths, all of which have ‘empathy deficient disorders’. This means that they lack the ability to feel empathy, which is oftentimes caused by an under-active mirror neuron system.
- It has been scientifically shown that many people tend to pick up the feeling of those around them, which is known as emotional contagion. In another word, you as an empath should choose positive people to hand out with.
source: healthy-holistic-living