# Off-Topic Discussion > The Lounge > Ask/Tell Me About >  >  Tell me about Empaths

## Aristaeus

As the title suggests, my primary purpose for posting this thread is to learn more about empaths--individuals with the psychological trait of perceiving and absorbing the emotions of others--and possibly to better understand them. Also, if possible, I would love to hear about the various stories or experiences from any empaths who may happen to dwell in this board.

Anyhow, for everyone else, feel free to discuss in this thread anything related to empaths and the concept of empathy.

For anybody here who may happen to be an empath, I have a few questions I hope are not too impertinent:


What kind of emotions, if any, do you or have you perceived from others when they are asleep? Do they feel any different from when they are awake? If so, explain.

When sleeping, do your empathic senses respond any differently to the creatures or objects within your presence? If so, explain.

What kind of dreams do you have? How might they affect you?

Do you, in person, know any fellow empaths on a friendly level? If so, how do you relate to one another?

Are you able to perceive or absorb emotions from those not within your physical presence (i.e. Seeing someone in a photograph, watching someone on television, speaking to someone on the phone, reading a typed or hand-written message, etc.)? Explain.

How might you relate to pets or other animals? Insects? Plant life?

What kind of energies have you felt from inanimate, or non-living, objects--whether or not they are of sentimental value?

How might various forms of climate affect you or your empathic senses (i.e. Thunderstorms, rain/hail/snowfall, wind, heat, cold, etc.)?

Is it possible for a person to conceal his or her emotions or intuitions from empaths? Have you ever met anybody capable of doing so?

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## Zhaylin

I am an under developed empath.  I was much more in tuned to the emotions of others when I was younger.

•What kind of emotions, if any, do you or have you perceived from others when they are asleep? Do they feel any different from when they are awake? If so, explain.
That's not something I've ever explored.  I tend to sleep alone.

•When sleeping, do your empathic senses respond any differently to the creatures or objects within your presence? If so, explain.
Dream objects?  I have highly emotional dreams.  Even in "bad dreams" I tend to identify with both the victim and victimizer.

•What kind of dreams do you have? How might they affect you?
See above.  Other than that, it helps me to see every side to every situation and to empathize with them.

•Do you, in person, know any fellow empaths on a friendly level? If so, how do you relate to one another?
No.  I've always felt very alone.

•Are you able to perceive or absorb emotions from those not within your physical presence (i.e. Seeing someone in a photograph, watching someone on television, speaking to someone on the phone, reading a typed or hand-written message, etc.)? Explain.
Sometimes.  It's hard to explain.  I have a hard time with pictures that's not related to empathy (or so I believe).  Pictures make me depressed- especially when I don't know who the person is.  I can pick up emotions in some writing, but that's mostly just being observant.  Television is mixed... if it's the news or something similar I can usually read the person.  If it's fiction and if they're good, it's hard to differentiate between the real and fake emotions.

•How might you relate to pets or other animals? Insects? Plant life?
I was amazing with animals when I was a kid.  I lost the gift,somewhat, with age.  The rest, I think (again) is observation and knowing animals.  I can usually tell what they need or want from their body language and different pitches of their vocalizations.  My kids still tend to think I'm somewhat magical in my abilities to tell them what the animal wants or needs.

•What kind of energies have you felt from inanimate, or non-living, objects--whether or not they are of sentimental value?
Now THAT is even more difficult to explain.  Certain objects have a distinct "vibration" of sorts.  If the object is found in nature (stones, branches, bones etc), I'm more drawn to the energy.  The only thing I can really pick up from people's possessions is whether or not the object is "demonic" or ritualistically significant.  I can sometimes pick up that it was cherished, but I think that has more to do with observation (how worn is it, does it hold a place of honor and that sort of thing).

•How might various forms of climate affect you or your empathic senses (i.e. Thunderstorms, rain/hail/snowfall, wind, heat, cold, etc.)?
?????  Not in any direct way.  But whenever my emotions are influenced (in what ever way) I can be more tuned in.  Extreme heat and cold tend to make me hibernate, so I'm no good at all.  I love storms or any kind.  They place me in a more creative and spiritually enhanced sort of mood so I would tend to be more receptive. 

•Is it possible for a person to conceal his or her emotions or intuitions from empaths? Have you ever met anybody capable of doing so?  I've met only one person I couldn't read and I immediately didn't like nor trust him.  Turned out he was a sociopath.

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## Kraftwerk

Erm... I just wanted to thank you for creating this thread.  I was curious to what an Empath was, so I googled it, and found this: http://hubpages.com/hub/Psychism--7-...oure-an-Empath ... And figured out part of whats been plaugueing me. The inexplicable emotions. The pain. The joy. The whiplash of going from one thing, to the next, to the next, all dependent on those around me. I know I'm not Bipolar. I've been evaluated (somewhat). I'm perfectly sane, but I think this might just be what the problem is.... I may answer the questions later. Thank you again for the thread.

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## mindwanderer

What the heck, I'll post too! 

However, I happen to lack Empathy (for the most part). 

Let me take you back to a time when I was a skinned kneed bright faced little boy. I remember seeing my mum watching a sad movie and crying, and I never understood it. I remember when people passed away in my family, I couldn't share the emotions with them. Don't get me wrong, I can percieve emotions, at a shallow level at least, but I can't 'click in' with other people. I do, though, understand them. They aren't 'foreign' to me... just disconnected. 

I see how it could be helpful to have empathy, but I also see that it can be bad in some ways too. Being able to keep a clear mind without the fog of emotions (hate, sadness etc) is a great ability. I'm a very level headed person (in my own eyes at least) and I remember always being the beta (diffuser) in highschool. When shit would hit the fan I was there to calm everyone down and process the situation in a unbiased and logical way. 

Anyways, Empathy has pros and cons I guess.

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## Kraftwerk

> What the heck, I'll post too! 
> 
> However, I happen to lack Empathy (for the most part). 
> 
> Let me take you back to a time when I was a skinned kneed bright faced little boy. I remember seeing my mum watching a sad movie and crying, and I never understood it. I remember when people passed away in my family, I couldn't share the emotions with them. Don't get me wrong, I can percieve emotions, at a shallow level at least, but I can't 'click in' with other people. I do, though, understand them. They aren't 'foreign' to me... just disconnected. 
> 
> I see how it could be helpful to have empathy, but I also see that it can be bad in some ways too. Being able to keep a clear mind without the fog of emotions (hate, sadness etc) is a great ability. I'm a very level headed person (in my own eyes at least) and I remember always being the beta (diffuser) in highschool. When shit would hit the fan I was there to calm everyone down and process the situation in a unbiased and logical way. 
> 
> Anyways, Empathy has pros and cons I guess.



It does it does.

I've had moments in my life where empathy disappears. Just like that even emotions to some extent. Then in about 2 hours everything comes back as powerful as ever.

Powerful Empathy (Like that experienced by an empath) can really suck. Especially when your a guy because crying isn't as 'Acceptable'. I speak from experience.

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## Zhaylin

Yeah... it can suck at times.  One time, in High School, a couple strangers got into a major fight.  The two girls were really going at it and one of them pulled off the others hair weave.
I was standing at a distance and just started crying my eyes out.  I perceived the emotions as if I WAS the girls- the anger, the hatred, the shock, but what finally broke me was the embarrassment.

I also ran away from home twice because I couldn't cope with my families MAJOR negativity.  But as bad as my family was, they helped mold my abilities.  When I was a kid, I thought I had magical abilities.  But a couple years ago I learned about people who could discern micro body language signals.
Which is where I stand now.  I have some innate abilities but most of them have been subconsciously trained (so I would know ahead of time when to leave or diffuse the situation when my folks and others were about to fight.)

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## Aristaeus

Whoops, sorry for bumping an old topic; haven't had many recent opportunities to use the web.
Anyhow, I just wanted to thank all of you for the feedback. This information has helped me a GREAT deal. I deeply appreciate it.

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## Snowboy

I suspect I'm an empath, just on a minor level.

Whenever people cry, I have a strange urge to cry as well. I might be able to feel anger coming from people (if I'm involved in the situation) and I get angry as well. On a more general level, I can pick up strong emotions through the air, and slightly less minor ones when I and another person touch or make eye contact (might be a reason why I hate it...). Eye contact is the worst for me... I get a sudden burst of fear and possibly with something else and a little shudder goes along my body. I can't explain it, but it's weird. That's all for the moment. I hope you don't mind some additional feedback.

BTW, weather can have a slight effect on me also, and I don't pick up anything from people far away or in photos, just people that are close, make contact or eye contact.

However, if I notice something familiar that pertains to a certain (usually bad) event, then I feel those emotions again until I stop them.

Inanimate objects usually don't give off anything, and I like nature!  ::D: 

Thank you for your time and happy dreaming,

Snowboy  ::aphiusiscrazy::

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## Aristaeus

Bump!

Just posting this link for documentation:

Dealing with the public - Empath Chat

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## Xei

Other than those who have a psychological condition such as psychopathy or autism, everybody feels empathy. It's not a superpower.

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## Aristaeus

> Other than those who have a psychological condition such as psychopathy or autism, everybody feels empathy. It's not a superpower.



But there are those whom feel empathy much more strongly than others, correct? Those are the humans I am researching. I am fully aware empathy on the sci-fi level does not exist. I just like to hear other humans' experiences on the subject--if nothing else, it helps me understand it better.

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## Firewolf

> As the title suggests, my primary purpose for posting this thread is to learn more about empaths--individuals with the psychological trait of perceiving and absorbing the emotions of others--and possibly to better understand them. Also, if possible, I would love to hear about the various stories or experiences from any empaths who may happen to dwell in this board.
> 
> Anyhow, for everyone else, feel free to discuss in this thread anything related to empaths and the concept of empathy.
> 
> For anybody here who may happen to be an empath, I have a few questions I hope are not too impertinent:
> 
> 
> •What kind of emotions, if any, do you or have you perceived from others when they are asleep? Do they feel any different from when they are awake? If so, explain.
> 
> ...



Can't most normal people do this? How is this different than what most people perceive?

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## Aristaeus

> Can't most normal people do this? How is this different than what most people perceive?



[Shrugs] Honestly, I cannot answer that question, since I am not a normal person. Based on mine research, I just had the impression that empaths were generally much more sensitive to the world around them, and much better at reading, understanding, and connecting with other humans.

Perhaps this article will be of some interest: Traits of an Empath

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## minervajane

I'm new here...I spend most of my time on an empath forum, because I am an empath...so was curious when this was the first topic that came up after I signed in...Although this seems to be an old question, Ithought that was just too synchronous to pass up! So here's my 2 cents:

•What kind of emotions, if any, do you or have you perceived from others when they are asleep? Do they feel any different from when they are awake? If so, explain.
I'm grateful when others go to sleep because then the other emotions are turned off.

•When sleeping, do your empathic senses respond any differently to the creatures or objects within your presence? If so, explain.
I sometimes feel the presence of other entities and I dream about them. That was the reason I looked up this dream forum this evening. Those dreams freak me out.

•What kind of dreams do you have? How might they affect you?
I have prognostic dreams sometimes. I've dreamed of people I know before they died. Once I had someone come to me the night before she died and told me. Mostly i have dreams concerning my emotional state. Some are of a very spiritual nature...those are great. 

•Do you, in person, know any fellow empaths on a friendly level? If so, how do you relate to one another?
Only on a forum. It is a very friendly forum. They can sense how I feel and are very easy to relate with.

•Are you able to perceive or absorb emotions from those not within your physical presence (i.e. Seeing someone in a photograph, watching someone on television, speaking to someone on the phone, reading a typed or hand-written message, etc.)? Explain.
Yes. it is amazing how much you can pick up from a photo.

•How might you relate to pets or other animals? Insects? Plant life?
Most empaths are animal lovers. They can feel the anmals needs just like they would a humans needs.


•What kind of energies have you felt from inanimate, or non-living, objects--whether or not they are of sentimental value?
I love antiques but many empaths are not comfortable with them. I don't know why that is.

•How might various forms of climate affect you or your empathic senses (i.e. Thunderstorms, rain/hail/snowfall, wind, heat, cold, etc.)?
I don't know about  that, but have noticed differences with the moon phases. I get nervous and sometimes physically ill before the full moon.

•Is it possible for a person to conceal his or her emotions or intuitions from empaths? Have you ever met anybody capable of doing so?
Probably not with an empath who is aware. But many empaths, like anyone, aren't always in touch with themselves.

An empath will avoid confrontation because it literally hurts. They can understand both sides of an argument. Being around negative people can be very damaging to empathic people. No, it isn't a superpower but it is most definately more developed in some people. The technical term is Highly Sensitive People and there is a wiki article about it, although I think it goes beyond the wiki description.

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## Aristaeus

> I'm new here...I spend most of my time on an empath forum, because I am an empath...so was curious when this was the first topic that came up after I signed in...Although this seems to be an old question, Ithought that was just too synchronous to pass up! So here's my 2 cents:
> 
> What kind of emotions, if any, do you or have you perceived from others when they are asleep? Do they feel any different from when they are awake? If so, explain.
> I'm grateful when others go to sleep because then the other emotions are turned off.
> 
> When sleeping, do your empathic senses respond any differently to the creatures or objects within your presence? If so, explain.
> I sometimes feel the presence of other entities and I dream about them. That was the reason I looked up this dream forum this evening. Those dreams freak me out.
> 
> What kind of dreams do you have? How might they affect you?
> ...



Fascinating!

This single post has given me much more insight than Google ever could. Thanks for the input; it has been a great help. Oh, and welcome to the boards.





> Do you, in person, know any fellow empaths on a friendly level? If so, how do you relate to one another?
> Only on a forum. It is a very friendly forum. They can sense how I feel and are very easy to relate with.



Interesting. Any chance I could have the link?

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## minervajane

Glad I could help. Are you writing a paper about this or something of that nature? Or do you suspect you might be a empath? 
The board won't let me post the direct link since I'm new, but search for empathcommunity.eliselebeau
You'll get more than you ever need about empaths there, and the people will be very helpful, at least they usually are...sometimes we can get a bit stressed!

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## Aristaeus

> Glad I could help. Are you writing a paper about this or something of that nature? Or do you suspect you might be a empath? 
> The board won't let me post the direct link since I'm new, but search for empathcommunity.eliselebeau
> You'll get more than you ever need about empaths there, and the people will be very helpful, at least they usually are...sometimes we can get a bit stressed!



[Shrugs] I just find empathy to be an interesting subject, is all.

Oh, and thanks for the website; I am sure it will provide lots of useful data.

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## Firewolf

> As the title suggests, my primary purpose for posting this thread is to learn more about empaths--individuals with the psychological trait of perceiving and absorbing the emotions of others--and possibly to better understand them. Also, if possible, I would love to hear about the various stories or experiences from any empaths who may happen to dwell in this board.
> 
> Anyhow, for everyone else, feel free to discuss in this thread anything related to empaths and the concept of empathy.
> 
> For anybody here who may happen to be an empath, I have a few questions I hope are not too impertinent:
> 
> 
> What kind of emotions, if any, do you or have you perceived from others when they are asleep? Do they feel any different from when they are awake? If so, explain.    Usually when people sleep their "energy" is very dim though when they start moving around or start breathing irregularly I can feel there presence more.
> 
> ...



   Since I believe this to be more of a learned skill as a kid then superstition I'm sure a good actor could pull this off so obviously I haven't.

Sorry it took so long to reply as I have been a bit busy lately. Also sorry if my information is a bit "Holey" since this is the 4th time I'm writing this as it always seems to disappear so ill answer any questions about this post.
Firewolf.

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## minervajane

> Since I believe this to be more of a learned skill as a kid then superstition I'm sure a good actor could pull this off so obviously I haven't.
> 
> Sorry it took so long to reply as I have been a bit busy lately. Also sorry if my information is a bit "Holey" since this is the 4th time I'm writing this as it always seems to disappear so ill answer any questions about this post.
> Firewolf.



Hi Firewolf...Much of this skill could obviously be picked up as a child, especially when you grow up having to "walk on eggshells." However, I don't think that is all there is to it. Check out the wiki article on HSP or highly sensitive people. . . that is one additional aspect to it, but still not all, in my opinion and experience.

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## Xei

> But there are those whom feel empathy much more strongly than others, correct?



You seem to think so, but why? Psychopathy has been well documented and researched by psychologists, but I'm not aware of any "super empathy" condition.

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## Narwhal

I've been told I was an indigo and empath based on my aura, although I'm not sure I believe in that stuff. But I will answer the questions as some apply.

•I've never felt any particular emotion of anyone asleep, it's like a wall, although I feel a difference between a sort of peaceful sleep and a physically and emotionally drained sleep, the latter happens to make me feel...sad in a way. I hate when near and dear have any struggle especially the ones who don't stick up for themselves, because I don't stick up for my self so I know how it feels and I don't want them to feel that so it's kind of selfish of me because I hurt worse then they when they are hurting to I'm just trying to save my self, it's like a big circle of comparison. Oi.

•I sleep sooo much better with someone in the same room as me, I'm not sure why. If my cat is not in my room I will not sleep, because of the lack of something of which I don't know. Sometimes if I see a spider in my room I can't go into my room for a few weeks cause fuck spiders, and my sister is nice enough to let me sleep on her floor when things such as that happen and OH MY GOSH! best sleep ever, even though the floor is hard compared to my new mattress, just my sisters presence while I sleep I will sleep deep and restfully, perhaps I feel a little of her restful sleep, and my cats, otherwise wired ass awake, humans are like sleep drugs that don't leave you drowsy the next morning. Sadly humans feel better than cats, but at least I can get sleep with my kitty poo.

•I don't know if other peoples dreams are like this, but they're always driven with emotions of the extreme such as fear, sadness, joy, passion/lust etc. I wake up from them sometimes horrified with fast heart beat, crying and weeping, laughing hysterically, doing questionable things I'd rather not speak of. Sometimes my dream in themselves are about energy vampires, like the one I had last night.

•I believe everyone has the ability to have heightened empathy, but most have calcified pineal glands from fluoridated tap water, spring waters, and processed foods. Distilled water will melt the calcium deposits off of the pineal and heighten all supposed psychic abilities so says Andrew Norton Webber. I've been drinking distilled waters, including UT for about four or five months now and things from childhood are coming back...

•I can feel these things from just thinking of someone I haven't seen in over five years. I feel what this person feels for me and I feel that they can feel what I feel for them. But that's because we've created a mutual link to do so. If I was to look into an old text book and see an image of an old couple, I can only perceive through visual, facial recognition, and my imagination as to what they might be feeling as I've never made a mutual link with them.

•Well when I was a child parents would grow agitated with me as I would almost weekly bring stray cats and dogs and injured ravens or owls to our door step and would ask my mom to get a food and water dish. My mom always said it was as if they were drawn to me, they were never afraid of me, I bet animals are empaths too. Then each animal my mom would take to the local no kill shelter in hopes of their adoption to a good home. Except the raven, we took care of it for about a month or two until it was better, then we took it to this woman who took care of ravens and other birds to get them back in the wild. Now that I'm older, I still legit save animals off the cold street and keep some of them, it's like a compulsion for me, and when I go for walks all the vicious watch dogs will go from violently barking at other people then snap to wagging their tails at me and I must go pet them and I bring doggy treats and catnip, even though all the owners give me weird looks because I'm all building bonds with THEIR animals haha. This one house never shut their gate, so I would meet their young German shepherd everyday and it would run out and jump on me all happy and we'd walk around for awhile and then go back to his home and he'd run back into his yard and the owners caught this a few times I mean they're the assholes who leave their gate open with 5 dogs. That is why I see run over dogs and cats all the time. But they shut their gate now and I haven't seen the doggy since, me and my sister nicknamed it raptor. I love plants, I was growing goji shrub and would treat like a pet and talk to it, mostly tell it how proud I was of how it was doing. In 6th grade the other butt-hole kids were catching all the lady bugs and ripping their wings off or gluing two together, so at recess I had a huge ziplock bag and caught almost a hundred red yellow and green lady bugs and put them in my backpack and let them free in my back yard, and my backyard was so lively ever after. But spiders can go suck a dick, I have no empathy for spiders, death to all spiders, I don't care for the spiders kills flies argument no fuck spiders up the ass.

•This one is weird, I used to walk around with all of my attention at the ground just urgently searching for what I do not know. I would come home from school or just from playing outside and have stuff from broken radios, car parts unique rocks marbles, discarded tools, toys, in my mind they were weapons, I'd play with my friends and they began to play with the stuff I found. We played wrestling and they were weapons, or play kids next door and they were weapons. Every piece of junk was useful to me. I had a rock collection and built them a home and named them, I stuck beads up my nose and always got in trouble for it, but I wanted to put it there because I felt it was a friend more than an object. But one time a bead was stuck far up and I just forgot and it grew mold so my mom took me to the hospital, the nurse was coming at my nose with the longest ass tweezers and I smacked them out of her hand so they strapped me down I was just going berserk I looked like a lunatic child hahha. When my family would go to car shows or shows that had all those papers and pamphlets on every stand, I would come home with three or five bags filled to the brim with free papers and it was so cool to me, other people would throw them away but they meant so much to me and had much value, and I grabbed all the free aol disks at the stator bros. but my mom says I was just a hoarder child. To this day I still have toys from childhood the sentimental energy from them, I end up playing with them rather then getting rid of them then put them back. I can't get rid of them, that would be cruel. 

•I don't see a difference in climate or weather, although thunder and lightening storms scare the living shit out of me, I will be uptight during the whole storm, and I hate the sound of airplanes and helicopters, those fucktards always flying over my house. Maybe I'm feeling the horror energy from the storm itself, or other people, or maybe I'm just a chickenshit. I don't do well in dirt storms either, just a wall of emptiness, alone in the world.

•Hmm well I think emotions are just the energy from a human being picked up by another, so if someone can conceal their energy, I suppose, but I've never tried to notice this. Everyone I've ever made links with, I've noted what they gave off. Some people can look happy and be happy but they chronically have bad energy and the very second of their presence I become filled with anger and have to go lock myself in my room until they leave. I guess those are the energy vampires I've read about. Maybe government spooks who are nothing but brainwash can conceal their emotions, or the hybrid humans as they have no soul. I don't know though.

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## Aristaeus

@Narwhal: Thanks for the input.





> You seem to think so, but why? Psychopathy has been well documented and researched by psychologists, but I'm not aware of any "super empathy" condition.



I have met other humans in real life whom are comparatively more empathic than most humans. Although, they were not born with the trait, but rather developed it throughout their childhood. For instance, one person I know was an abuse victim. At a very young age, she had to learn to read others and pick up emotions so she knew when to avoid the abuser. This eventually caused her to become very sensitive to others.

[Shrugs] That being said, I have no fundamental, solid proof of the existence of empaths (aka Highly Sensitive People). I just have reason to believe they might exist. I fully understand your skepticism. But, if you think about it, there was a time when nobody ever heard of schizophrenia either. Ergo, just because it has not been widely researched or documented does not immediately mean it is not out there. [Shrugs] But of course, I could be in error.

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## Firewolf

> Hi Firewolf...Much of this skill could obviously be picked up as a child, especially when you grow up having to "walk on eggshells." However, I don't think that is all there is to it. Check out the wiki article on HSP or highly sensitive people. . . that is one additional aspect to it, but still not all, in my opinion and experience.



Thanks for the article! Besides nature and nurture, what do you think causes people to feel empathic?

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## Original Poster

Empathy is caused by mirror neurons, which replicate the neurological experiences of others to give you a harmless taste. An empath has an over abundance of mirror neurons.

To understand what it's like being an empath, imagine watching someone smell the inside of a very nasty old shoe, and though you cannot place what, specifically, the smell is like, by watching them your brain chemistry makes you feel as though you just smelt something repulsive. All of the neurological effects of the sensory data carry over without the data itself.

That's the lighter side, the heavier side is watching someone relive a traumatic experience in their life and you break out crying. You don't need to have experienced getting a catheter removed to know what it's like, you merely have to listen to someone as they relive the experience. Again though, the specific sensory data does not carry over, which stands it apart from telepathy and shit like that.

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## Chickadee23

Maybe these empaths are people who may have a kind of synesthesia. Like feeling emotions from inanimate objects and stuff. Could be who aristeaus was talking about. I there are more people who have the ability to feel empathy than not, just from the psychopath ratio  1 to 100. But maybe there are others in the world that feel it on a super strong level that most people don't experience. Don't know really I just fall within the norm.

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## Original Poster

Empaths do not have synesthesia, we feel the emotional response that others feel by looking at or hearing them. It has to do with interpersonal connections. Synesthesia involves phantom sensory data, empaths do not receive any of the sensory data, only the emotional reaction. The opposite of a psychopath is theorized in many directions, one being schizophrenia because their amygdalae are over developed and a psychopath's is underdeveloped. Another is social anxiety disorder which people have who often feel like their walking on eggshells around others. An empath is neither of these either, we simply have an over abundance of mirror neurons which causes us to nearly replicate the emotions others experience rather than merely take in a sense of them as someone with an average amount of empathy would do.

However that doesn't mean I rule out a possible relationship between social anxiety disorder and empaths, it's just that they are not always paired. Social anxiety often has to do with more time spent considering others, an empath does not need to consider others more often, they simply feel the same emotional reactions. They may also both bloom from a childhood requirement to tune into their parent's emotions, whether to avoid getting beaten or because their parents were very distant. To be clear, psychology is a spectrum of grades, not categories, so saying what something definitively is and is not is a dubious practice.

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## Firewolf

> Empathy is caused by mirror neurons, which replicate the neurological experiences of others to give you a harmless taste. An empath has an over abundance of mirror neurons.
> 
> To understand what it's like being an empath, imagine watching someone smell the inside of a very nasty old shoe, and though you cannot place what, specifically, the smell is like, by watching them your brain chemistry makes you feel as though you just smelt something repulsive. All of the neurological effects of the sensory data carry over without the data itself.
> 
> That's the lighter side, the heavier side is watching someone relive a traumatic experience in their life and you break out crying. You don't need to have experienced getting a catheter removed to know what it's like, you merely have to listen to someone as they relive the experience. Again though, the specific sensory data does not carry over, which stands it apart from telepathy and shit like that.



Is this proven or just a theory? Not that I doubt you im just curious about this. By the way do any empaths here have empathic parents and or siblings?

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## Original Poster

It's all theory but it's not my theory. Mirror neuron - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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## TheUnknown

> Empaths do not have synesthesia, we feel the emotional response that others feel by looking at or hearing them. It has to do with interpersonal connections. Synesthesia involves phantom sensory data, empaths do not receive any of the sensory data, only the emotional reaction. The opposite of a psychopath is theorized in many directions, one being schizophrenia because their amygdalae are over developed and a psychopath's is underdeveloped. Another is social anxiety disorder which people have who often feel like their walking on eggshells around others. An empath is neither of these either, we simply have an over abundance of mirror neurons which causes us to nearly replicate the emotions others experience rather than merely take in a sense of them as someone with an average amount of empathy would do.
> 
> However that doesn't mean I rule out a possible relationship between social anxiety disorder and empaths, it's just that they are not always paired. Social anxiety often has to do with more time spent considering others, an empath does not need to consider others more often, they simply feel the same emotional reactions. They may also both bloom from a childhood requirement to tune into their parent's emotions, whether to avoid getting beaten or because their parents were very distant. To be clear, psychology is a spectrum of grades, not categories, so saying what something definitively is and is not is a dubious practice.



Heh, gotta bump an old post.

I would disagree with your assumption that synesthetes cannot be empaths.  I discovered only recently that my perception is very different from the majority of the population as I was asking for help when learning French.  I have an (I guess) rare form of synesthesia that's called "ticker-tape synesthesia".  Basically, when I hear people talk, I see their words like subtitles in my mind.  Same as when I'm speaking.  It's a little difficult when I'm in a busy room with a lot of conversations going around and it changes how I have to learn a language (because I see the words in my head and sound it from the spelling there).  People with unclear speech or accents it appears different.  Music lyrics I can't really explain but it flows differently.  Words do have emphasis and pauses often carry punctuation.  The cool benefit is that it makes it ridiculously easy to proofread papers, the errors just jump out at me since I'm so used to seeing it and my spelling and vocabulary have always seemed decent.  Oh, I very rarely have speech in my dreams but I often dream of text conversations.

I've known for a long time is that I experience rather strong empathy.  It's sort of a double-edged ability to have.  On the one hand, it allows me to enjoy being around people when they are happy... and to enjoy making them happy and experiencing things with them.  On the other hand, feeling anger and sadness can be overwhelming.  It's actually been an interest of mine to block it out as much as possible else it grates on me.  There's just a lot of situations I can't improve and I can't put myself there.  It turns out this crosses into the synesthesia I experience because I can actually feel some physical perception of others too, it's difficult to explain.  Like if I see a person cut, poked, or touched I will often feel the sensation on myself too.  Lim picked up some of how I experience the world differently.  Honestly, I wish I could turn it off as I feel it does more harm to myself than good.  It just makes getting to know people more difficult, it makes living life more complicated, you see the effects of what you do a lot more.  I've known sociopaths and worked amongst them.  There's distinct advantages to being that way, especially as a leader.  You don't get to feel when people hate you, you don't feel accountable for your mistakes.  I suppose the flipside is the sociopath doesn't get to experience as fulfilling relationships. 

And no, I don't really have social anxiety, I've just never really been able to read lips and seeing words form out in a loud room is difficult so it's pretty worthless to try to talk to someone in a loud concert/bar/club.  Written text I can generally feel a person's mood at a given time, I'm also very good at detecting quite a bit more through text; one community I use it to spot scammers.  

Anyways here's some links to a study about the mirror-touch stuff, it falls in line with the mirror neuron theory.  Ticker-tape you can find out about by googling:

Mirror-touch and ticker tape experiences in synesthesia
Mirror-touch synesthesia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Hope this is interesting (and nobody thinks I'm crazy) :-\

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## snoop

I don't believe that Original Poster was meaning to say that synesthetes _cannot_ be empaths. It looked more like he was stating that the two are not always linked and may more often than not, indeed not be linked. To say an empath absolutely must be a synesthete doesn't really make much sense, so it naturally follows to me that that is what he meant by what he said. For what good reason would the two be inexorably linked? Or perhaps I should say, even if all synesthetes are empaths (not saying they are, this is a hypothetical situation), not all empaths would therefore be synesthetes.

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## TheUnknown

"Empaths do not have synesthesia".  If he said some or most, that would be an argument as to his meaning. 

But I'm saying the phenomena can be related, there is some science backing it up.  It's just less understood than the more prevalent grapheme-color synesthesia is.  I absolutely do not think all empaths are synesthetes nor do I think all synesthetes experience empathy (especially since there are many types).

I just related my experience with both from what I know.

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## snoop

> "Empaths do not have synesthesia".  If he said some or most, that would be an argument as to his meaning. 
> 
> But I'm saying the phenomena can be related, there is some science backing it up.  It's just less understood than the more prevalent grapheme-color synesthesia is.  I absolutely do not think all empaths are synesthetes nor do I think all synesthetes experience empathy (especially since there are many types).
> 
> I just related my experience with both from what I know.



I think what I meant to say to explain what he meant is that all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.

In relation to the topic, I'm mildly autistic and generally lack a lot of empathy of any sort. Can an empath better describe to me what it is that compels them to feel? Is it like the mirror-neurons have such a profound ability to alter your own emotions and feelings that they take over? Watching anybody or anything with a face or that is anthropomorphic at all can force you to feel what it feels? Is it controllable? Is it harder based on the number of people around you, or does that actually make it easier? Does your mood from the day change your reception of feelings a lot as well, or more or less does it not seem to have much effect?

You see, no matter how hard I try, unless I am in an odd situation or something just clicks for me, I am left trying to analyze everything people do rather than have a feel for what's going on. I literally had to teach myself and keep using some guiding principles to make sure I don't come off as an asshole totally by accident to anyone I talk to, or not seeming totally clueless about stuff. I often have to be smacked in the face with things, I don't get hints. Oh, that's another thing, are you adept in social situations, or does it often feel overwhelming? Do you get hints easily, or do you sometimes get too many and think a lot of them might be false and you're thinking about it too much?

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## TheUnknown

I'm not compelled to feel empathy, I just do.  As I said above, it's not really like I have a choice in the matter.  It's like asking someone if they are compelled to see, they just do.  I can sorta tune it out in the same way you can stare into the distance and not really focus on seeing anything when it comes to strangers.  But yes, in general others' emotions will have a direct impact on how I feel.  I pick it up sometimes from other animals, but nearly as complex (expectedly) as it is from humans.   People I have bonded with I will always feel it and really can't tune it out.  

But yeah, I get it with autistic people that they can't "feel" the mood of a group of people.  It sucks in a lot of ways for you and it doesn't in others.  You can try and learn customs and how to act around people but it will never cover all scenarios or fit properly.  You're always going to be searching for a connection with other people and vulnerable to sociopaths that will try and exploit your wanting to be accepted.  On the same sense you aren't dealing with all this noise and the negative effects of feeling others emotions.  In a relationship you do not become a mirror of someone else's emotion.  

Funny you mention it, I worked with a narcissistic sociopath for some years who lacked any ability to emphasize with his coworkers and the customers he was trying to sell to.  He always went out with emotionally unstable girls because I guess he didn't understand the wild swings in mood and could take advantage of some of the swings.  He had a lot of drive to go out and sell but was incapable of telling when a client didn't like him and took him for a schemer.  Sociopaths do not feel empathy but they understand cues, they understand how to play the game.  So as you mentioned, they will study the reactions of people and learn to use it for their own benefit.  This is not necessarily a bad thing to know how to do.  But, they will push to get ahead and charm and talk to get what they want (disregarding any sort of emotional wreckage they leave behind them).  In his case though, he was one of the most insecure people I have ever met.

For social situations, I am pretty adept at catching cues and seeing if I said a wrong thing, etc.  I do get overwhelmed dealing with a lot of new people as it's a lot of information for me.  I picked up a lot of random knowledge so I can manage pretty well in most conversations.  It's taken me a long time to not really care so much about what other people around me are feeling about me at that moment, it's important.  I will try to avoid places with a lot of high anxiety, negative energy .  I focus on my close friends and family, the people closest to me are the ones I generally try not to let down.  It does drive me, as it's really intolerable to feel resentment and disappointment from them.  

I dug around to see if someone else put this into words better than I can, I found this blog entry, she is spot on:  The Relationship between Empaths and Narcissists : The Spiritual Eclectic

Not a thing to desire, enough people have problems managing their own emotions, imagine being able to feel all that in addition to dealing with your own life problems, that is what an empath deals with.  On the plus side, the more I have to deal with it, the better I get at seeing things from other people's perspectives.  It's just trying to maintain my own passions and interests and not getting caught up in others' that is difficult.

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