Is anyone an Empath here?

Question

If you don't even know what an empath is, please don't answer. I ask because I AM am empath and its hard to find people who are. I was wondering how they coped with the occasional overwhelming feedback.

Oh please, its not a science. Everyone is to a point. Its called your gut instinct. No need to be ugly about it.

*sigh I shouldn't be baited into this. You may all believe what you wish to. I will believe what I wish to. Its not mythology or stupid. Its what I believe in. There is no harm in respecting that.

Answer 1

Go get your power tested by James Randi, and you'll win a million bucks. Then you can use the money to cope with the "overwhelming feedback."

They're out there folks.

Answer 2

Yes, I am.

And I cope by continuing to live.

Truth is, the only thing I've found that blocks the ability is if I am feeling a stronger emotion than the one I'm picking up.

However, as I find anger/hate to be extremely uncomfortable (especially when you recongize that the emotions you inspire are the emotions you receive), I almost never turn myself over to those emotions.

Love is a good choice, but given how many people are uncomfortable with a loving man, that isn't much better (receiving suspicion and fear are not much better than anger and hate).

I think most people are latent empaths. We are social creatures and empathy makes a lot of sense as a beneficial development.

But culture and religion plays a big part in keeping this latency undeveloped.

I often wonder if the most powerful people in society are those whose empathic abilities are most limited.

And you are right, those of us who are aware of our empathic abilities are quite rare. Not many people are prepared to accept it and deal with it.

Answer 3

Well I use both sides. I'm left and right handed. I'm also very intuitive and have had many dreams that have come true. I definitely believe that there is parts of the brain that we are yet to know how to use that could infect allow us to do these amazing things. Look at autistic people with special gifts.

Answer 4

I grew up in a family of empaths but they were also christian fundys so any mention of the ability was "of the devil". So I had to learn to cope on my own from childhood. Highschool was angony as I never knew if the overwhelming emotions I was experienceing were mine or the student in the next desk's. Now as an Adult I use meditation and centering as ways to lessen the feedback of other's stress and emotional waves. I have programed my self with key words that send me to calm, quiet places in my mind when those "waves" hit me. THose key words can also be used to help me mentally step away from someone who is in a highly emotional state and I have to deal with them directly. It takes work to achieve this and you need to practice it dayly to keep it sharp. You also need to be alert to keep from being sucked into a wave by someone who is building up to a wave. It is easier to wall yourself from the wave than to get out of one.

Answer 5

By recognizing the difference between my own and others feedback. Others feelings and reactions feel like a milder version of my own. If I don't make the distinction, I react as if it WAS my own. Once I remind myself, 'hey, that's not mine', it becomes easier to witness the 'weather' without reacting. If people around you, especially those you are emotionally connected to, repress and hide their feelings then the repressed feelings are more likely to seek another opening(the path of least resistance) usually the individual most 'open'. Does this make sense?

Answer 6

Oh, please.

I've found that the people who claim to be empathic tend to be completely unaware of the fact that everyone else rolls their eyes every time they open their mouths.
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So you're an empath, and it's hard to find people who are...but everyone is.

See what I mean?

The fact of the matter is that psychics come in two kinds: deliberate scams, and people who are too out-of-touch with their surroundings to notice that they really don't have the powers they claim to have.

I didn't say you were stupid, but this IS mythology, and my response quickly proved to be correct, as you can clearly see. Your desire for respect doesn't override our right to tell the truth about your fantasy.

Answer 7

I am. I was capable of much more at one time.
The experience that resulted in this also stripped me of much of my self-image, so being able to tell the difference between my own thoughts and those of others was fairly easy. It made the whole experience (and still does) fairly painless (HA! Inside joke, like that could happen).
The pain isn't so bad when you don't compound it with your own self-created pain in response.

Answer 8

Using a circle of protection for one. It would be a good idea to read up on some basic shielding exercises.

Answer 9

Be careful of projection dear - often we assign our own meanings to others actions. Our brains create emotion chemically and electrically - we can train them to respond to external cues. Watching others faces, body language, etc can give us meaningful information about a persons state of being. Our minds can also be trained to internal cues, this is when we create emotional responses in our minds based on our assumptions. Be observant.

Answer 10

The problem with being an Empath is that you are in control.
You had better be right.

Answer 11

Shouldn't this be in the Mythology and Folklore section?
Because it certainly doesn't have anything to do with religion or spirituality, oh clairsentient one.