e.g. when someone is sad, you're sadder. when someone is depressed, you're more depressed. etc.
2007-08-21 09:49:44 · 19 answers · asked by Alaiyah 2 in Health ➔ Mental Health
I call it a mental disorder because it seems unhealthy. Empathy, I believe, is a lighter aspect of it.
2007-08-21 09:58:16 · update #1
Could you be talking about Co-Dependency? There is a good book by Melody Beattie called CoDependent No More
2007-08-21 09:55:39 · answer #1 · answered by I love winter 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
What you're describing isn't itself a mental disorder but more or less a personality component. It sounds like an emotional reactivity more than empathy though. Empathy is more or less the ability to emotionally put oneself into another person's world. This doesn't suggest that being around depressed people would worsen your depression. However, simply having depression could make you more emotionally reactive so when you're exposed to others low mood, it can remind you of your own sadness and you could be more likely to see your mood worsen.
2007-08-21 17:02:50 · answer #2 · answered by Shrink2B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My Mom does that and it's not a "mental" disorder, it's a personality habit and it's not always a bad thing to empathize withothers unless you literally become depressed or every little thing. Feeling sad for someone who is hurting is one thing, becomming severally depressed is another and it's a personality disorder which some self-help books can clear right up if you take a moment to realize that the decision to better yourself is completly up to you. There's also the option of denial, pretending you dont' have the cabability to self-heal and need outside help, like a therapy and while some people do need therapy to realize that they had the power to heal themselves all along, not everyone does.
I guess the question is, how bad is this habit of yours? Do you feel that it's affecting your quality of life? If so, it's time to take action.
2007-08-21 16:59:32 · answer #3 · answered by *~..Lamia Amorist..~* 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hayls, Answer Fairy and Julie are wrong in calling this empathy. When you are empathic, you're still yourself and know what is you and what is someone else, even if their pain affects you. If you get depressed when someone else is, you cannot help them and your empathy vanishes into a pool of misery. What you are talking about is a fragile sense of self, having poor ego-boundaries. It can be really overwhelming to feel like this, and it makes it really hard to have good relationships - there need to be two separate individuals for a relationships to develop and nourish both people.
If you can and feel ready for it, I would strongly recommend psychotherapy so that you can disentangle who YOU are from everyone else. This will help you have better relationships and a more fulfilling life.
2007-08-21 16:58:49 · answer #4 · answered by Ambi valent 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I don't believe you are speaking of empathy - empathy is emotions however not influenced by others.
It's more like a hypocondriac empathy.
You sound like you are letting other's problems affect you when they shouldn't.
Pray for them - helping others with a pitty party will do nothing for them and only bring you into a depression state.
Stop the pitty parties and make it better. =)
2007-08-26 22:48:00 · answer #5 · answered by Making a difference 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Is that of what kind?
I knew few of this kind:
1. Enlightened souls such as Christ, Buddha feeling for the suffering humanity
2. Parents,Friends, Dear ones feeling and suffering for their children, friends and relatives.
3. Mood swings caused by hormonal functions in our body
4. Absolutely false behavior on our part due to lack of understanding of our own subconcious mind.
Analyze first and then decide. Cheating oneself is worst form of cheating. First sympathize and empathize with yourself. I did not mean self pity but self understanding about one self.
2007-08-29 06:34:37 · answer #6 · answered by Harihara S 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It could be that you have been through a lot of problems in your life, or still have a lot of problems now and just can't deal with other people problems at this time. Deal with what is going on in your life, and then you can deal with other people problems better. Take care of yourself, if you don't you can't help anyone else.
2007-08-28 15:07:48 · answer #7 · answered by jbelljarnet 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is called Empathy, and no that is not a mental disorder.
2007-08-21 16:54:20 · answer #8 · answered by That'sINTENSE! 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Imagine mirrors surrounding you, so the emotions will be reflected and won't affect you.
It's easy to be lazy and neglect to shield yourself. It is therefore a choice whether to continue soaking up the pain of others, or to be done with suffering.
2007-08-21 17:04:55 · answer #9 · answered by unseen_force_22 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What I think you mean is not a mental disorder... but do you mean empathy?
2007-08-21 16:54:35 · answer #10 · answered by Yup Yup Yuppers 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋